“Something that intrigues me” - Demetrious Johnson says he wants to promote the life stories of ONE’s fighters beyond the cage

Demetrious Johnson is the perfect proponent of growing one's brand outside the cage, and he wants to extend that philosophy to his fellow fighters in ONE Championship.

In an interview with MMA Fighting, Johnson revealed he's still connected with the promotion despite retiring from MMA in September this year.

The former ONE flyweight MMA world champion said he's often curious about ways to promote fighters outside the ring or the cage and help them secure a presence outside martial arts.

Demetrious Johnson said:

"Like, how can we get involved with the athletes' story instead of focusing on, like, yes, you're a bad m***********. We know that, but there has to be more to the idea when we peel it away. A lot of them might not like that, it might not really cater to the market, but that's something that intrigues me. So, this is me like, thinking, and thinking out loud like how I can help ONE Championship."

The MMA legend began to establish a presence on YouTube when he uploaded his gaming videos on his Mighty channel eight years ago.

That presence exploded in 2022 when Johnson began posting reaction videos to martial arts, gimmick fights, and Street Beefs.

Johnson would also break down fights across boxing, ONE Championship, and the UFC. His channel ultimately evolved into having interviews with other fighters and now has a subscriber count of more than 832,000.

Watch Johnson's entire interview below:

---

Demetrious Johnson teases joining ONE Championship's submission grappling ranks

Demetrious Johnson may have retired from MMA, but he's still got that competitive fire within him.

In the same interview with MMA Fighting, Johnson said that joining ONE Championship's growing submission grappling scene is still a possibility for his career:

"I'm truly grateful for that. If I wanted to grapple in ONE Championship, I could do that sh*t. I still could do that if I really wanted to."

Johnson recently received his BJJ black belt from his coach Bibiano Fernandes, a former ONE bantamweight MMA world champion, this year.