“If my kids were to fight, I would have them do jiu-jitsu” - Demetrious Johnson on teaching his children self-defense

ONE flyweight MMA world champion Demetrious Johnson has shored-up appreciation for Brazilian jiu-jitsu now so much so that believes it is a solid foundation for an MMA career, even one he would encourage his kids to pick up for self-defense.

'Mighty Mouse' shared this in a recent episode of his MightyCast podcast where he had ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo on. Ruotolo incidentally is set to make his MMA debut at ONE 167 on June 7 in Thailand.

Demetrious Johnson said of jiu-jitsu as foundation for MMA:

"If my kids were to fight, I would have them do jiu-jitsu first, because you cannot teach 18 years of grappling. You just can't. The grips, the sweeps, the balance. You can't do that all."

He added:

"When it comes to boxing, you can just [teach] them to drop the weight like that. You can learn in two years to control the distance and you're good to go."

Check out what he had to say below:

Demetrious Johnson has been actively competing in BJJ the past year and has had a lot of success.

He recently won the gold in the brown belt Master 2 featherweight class at the 2024 IBJJF Pan Championship in Florida.

As for Ruotolo, he will make his MMA debut at ONE 167 against fellow American Blake Cooper. ONE 167 will be available live and for free in U.S. primetime to North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.

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Kade Ruotolo impressed with significant strides of Demetrious Johnson in BJJ

Demetrious Johnson's significant strides in BJJ has Amercian grappling ace Kade Ruotolo impressed and wants the former to continue with his push in the sport.

The 21-year-old Atos standout, who is the reigning ONE lightweight submission grappling world chamnpion, said he has been following the progress of 'Mighty Mouse' in BJJ, including at the 2024 IBJFF Pan American Championship where he competed in the openweight category.

One of his victories came at the expense of a 250-pound opponent, from which Ruotolo impressively reacted to on an Instagram video posted by ONE Championship.

There he said:

"I know exactly what he's experiencing. He's so agile. Did you see that? This is the finish. Dude, that was so sick. Look at him. So sick! Performances like this in the gi, I don't think people understand truly how hard gi jiu-jitsu is, especially when size differences in the gi matters so much more compared to no gi. The fact that he's fighting a 6-foot-3, 250 lbs guy, in the gi, is just mind-boggling."

Demetrious Johnson is having a lot of success in jiu-jitsu that he said he is open to competing in submission grappling under ONE Championship.