“If it was a pure wrestling match, I would f*****g destroy him” - Demetrious Johnson talks about upcoming match with Rodtang

The much-awaited special rules super fight between Demetrious Johnson and Rodtang Jitmuangnon finally has a firm date set.

ONE chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong confirmed on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani that the promotion’s tenth-anniversary show, ONE X, will happen on March 26, and will feature the bout between two legends of their respective sports.

In a recent interview with ONE Championship, ‘Mighty Mouse’ urged fans to come out and watch the historic bout live:

"Everyone wants to watch the fight, to see can Demetrious Johnson get Rodtang to the ground and submit him, or can Rodtang knock me out? All fans out there who live in Singapore, you guys have been in a drought for two years. This is your chance to see some amazing fights. Get your as*** in the seats."

The match will feature alternating rounds of purely ONE Super Series Muay Thai rules and the global MMA ruleset. Naturally, it is widely expected that both fighters will dominate their respective sports. Demetrious Johnson admits that he is fully aware of this, saying:

“There’s a lot of pressure on me to get to him, take him down, and try to submit him within those 3 minutes. If it was a pure wrestling match, I would mop the f*****g floor with him. That’s me being straight honest, not holding any punches back.

However, Demetrious Johnson also gives credit to his opponent, as he understands Rodtang’s strengths:

“If it was a pure wrestling match, I would f*****g destroy him. Now if it’s pure Muay Thai, he mops the f*****g floor with me. There’s nothing that I can do to match his Muay Thai. I know that, and I’m OK with that.”

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Demetrious Johnson and Rodtang superfight will not go the distance

Demetrious Johnson and Rodtang will battle through four rounds of three-minutes each, which seems unusual as there’s no tie-breaking round.

During the interview with Ariel Helwani, Sityodtong explained that it was really meant to be just four rounds.

“Either DJ is going to get knocked out badly in the first round, or Rodtang gets subbed badly in the second round – I have no idea.”

It should also be of note that, should all four rounds expire without anyone being finished, however unlikely, ONE Championship judges fights as a whole and not round-by-round. Which means, technically, that a fifth round is not necessary to determine a winner by decision.

Sityodtong also shared that DJ expressed his willingness to mix it up in the striking part of the match, which is something to watch out for.

“DJ says he’s going to go toe-to-toe – he’s not going to run around. He’s going to go Muay Thai to Muay Thai, so it’s going to be a lot of fun.”