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Demetrious Johnson's journey to become the best martial artist recently took a huge leap forward.
After dominating the mixed martial arts scene with his grappling for more than a decade, the reigning ONE flyweight MMA world champion finally received his black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Johnson shared the news on Instagram after his BJJ coach and former ONE bantamweight MMA world champion Bibiano Fernandes promoted him.
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"Amazing day of training!! Thank you to professor @bibianofernandes and professor @yanmccane for presenting me with my black belt promotion today!! It was extremely special also having my two coaches from the start of my MMA career there as well @skiddsteve @mmawizard... I’m honored and looking to continuing my journey as a martial artist while also competing as a black belt!"
Johnson is one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, and he dominated his competition through his relentless wrestling and grappling.
The American legend, however, was only a brown belt for much of his career and was only elevated in rank after two successful tours in the IBJJF.
Johnson recently won gold and silver medals in the 2024 IBJJF Pan Championships and was ultimately promoted to black belt under Fernandes' tutelage.
Competing professionally since 2009, Johnson has amassed eight submissions in his 25-win MMA career.
He even secured a submission finish against ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon in a mixed-rules bout at ONE X in March 2022.
Demetrious Johnson talks about his mentality when competing
Demetrious Johnson holds arguably the best resume in MMA, and part of that success was borne out of his stubbornness to become the best fighter he can be.
'Mighty Mouse' always sought perfection, making him the only person to hold gold in both ONE Championship and UFC.
In an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, the former UFC flyweight world champion explained how he uses the same mindset in MMA whenever he competes on the mats in BJJ.:
"Even now, my coach goes, 'In your gi game, you're weak here. We're gonna work on that. Because somebody is going to see that and put you in that realm again.' So that's how my mind works."
Watch Johnson's entire interview below:
