Two months have passed since Demetrious Johnson added the ONE flyweight world title to his collection, and now 'Mighty Mouse' awaits his next challenge.
In the meantime, check out comprehensive highlights from the back-and-forth fight with former champion Adriano Moraes that led to an insane fourth-round knockout.
Watch the full video below:
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The win for 'DJ' extended his record to 31-4-1, and the 36 year-old seems to be as good as he ever has been. The bout was an immediate rematch with Moraes, who won their first fight by second-round TKO.
Johnson’s loss was his first in ONE Championship after winning the ONE flyweight world grand prix championship and earning a world title shot against Moraes.
Demetrious Johnson open to a trilogy with Moraes or a grappling match
As for what’s next for flyweight champion 'DJ', the options are aplenty to choose from- and not just in MMA.
In an interview with The Schmo, Johnson discussed the options on the table:
“Honestly, it’s whatever ONE Championship wants. Right now, I’m at a stage in my life where [I’m] 36 years old, I believe I’m the first champion to win a world title in the biggest organization in North America that just solely focus on mixed martial arts and the biggest organization in martial arts in Asia. You know, ONE Championship covers kickboxing, Muay Thai, submission wrestling, mixed martial arts, I mean, you name it, we cover it. We celebrate the home of martial arts.”
‘Mighty Mouse’ continued by saying:
“So right now, I’m in a phase where I’m trying to obviously build different business ventures. So when that time arises, wherever they want me to fight, whether it’s Adriano Moraes, if it’s Kairat Akhmetov or if it’s grappling Mikey Musumeci, I’ll be ready to prepare to go out there and give it hell.”
With rumors of ONE Championship debut on US soil in 2023, adding Demetrious Johnson to the card would be a no-brainer. Former world champion Adriano Moraes is still the number one contender, and a trilogy fight would make sense given the competitive nature of their first two fights.
Kairat Akhmetov of Kazakhstan is the number two contender and is currently on a five-fight win streak. Having only lost twice in his MMA career, he’s a fresh face for Demetrious Johnson and would pull in a multitude of Kazakh MMA fans to tune into the fight.
Meanwhile, a fight against ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci would exponentially raise the bar for submission grappling, especially by bringing fans of MMA and Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) together.
The options are deep, and Demetrious Johnson has a target on his back in multiple sports in the organization.