Demetrious Johnson says visualization helps him overcome emotions after victory 

It was undoubtedly an emotional evening for reigning ONE flyweight world champion ‘Mighty Mouse’ Demetrious Johnson. He competed in a clinical five-round contest winning via unanimous decision over longtime rival ‘Mikinho’ Adriano Moraes at ONE Fight Night 10 earlier this month.

There were talks of this being Johnson’s last fight as a professional MMA fighter after over a decade of competing at the highest level of the sport. Additionally, Johnson had his two kids and wife watching from Circleside for the first time ever.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani on a recent guest appearance on The MMA Hour, Johnson talked about his experience having his kids with him during fight week and how it helped him deal with his emotions:

“No, no, no. I visualized myself. When I, well I do a lot of visualizations, the one that made me emotional was if I would’ve won, if I would’ve finished him, I’ll probably jump off the cage and go give my kids a hug. So that kinda broke the ice for me, so I think I’ve probably gone for like 20 days or 18 days without seeing them, like, Facetime, or getting them to get their shoes on, I think I’ll probably be a little more emotional. But you know, I saw them, like, leading up to the fight, like the day of the fight, I think so.”

Check out Demetrious Johnson’s appearance on The MMA Hour below:

Demetrious Johnson defeated Moraes, then stood face to face with his next challenger Kairat Akhmetov in the Circle, temporarily squashing retirement talks.

Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action and excitement of ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs. Moraes III on Prime Video via replay with an active Amazon Prime subscription.