“The opportunity to do whatever they want” - Demetrious Johnson says ONE gives fighters a platform to showcase all skills

ONE flyweight MMA world champion Demetrious Johnson is proud to be part of a promotion which showcases and gives opportunities to martial artists from various backgrounds. 'Mighty Mouse' said as much in his session on the Jaxxon Podcast which was uploaded a month ago, underscoring how the diverse approach that ONE Championship has to its offerings has made it different from the other top promotions.

Citing the case of fellow ONE world champion Kade Ruotolo, the lightweight submission grappling king who recently made his MMA debut, Demetrious Johnson said:

"The beautiful thing about ONE is all the athletes have the opportunity to do whatever they want. Kade [just did] his ONE Championship debut. I'm sure he went to ONE and he had a jiu-jitsu contract and they're like 'Hey, I want to do MMA.' Perfect, let's make it happen.

He added:

"ONE Championship doesn't just have MMA. It has submission wrestling, kickboxing, and Muay Thai. I'm sure if Kade said, 'I want to do kickboxing.' Alright, let's get you a kickboxing contract and have you fight Tawanchai or whoever he wants it to be. That's what I'm thinking that's cool in ONE Championship is you have the opportunity to do anything under the banner."

Check out what he had to say below:

ONE Championship began with MMA-only shows over a decade ago but saw it fit to diversify its offerings to also include other disciplines like Muay Thai, kickboxing and submission grappling in the last few years. The move has been well received by fans.

Demetrious Johnson says he is open to competing in submission grappling in ONE

MMA legend and ONE flyweight world champion Demetrious Johnson said that submission grappling is something he is open to doing under ONE Championship.

On his podcast earlier this year, 'Mighty Mouse' shared that after dipping his his hands in no-gi grappling in tournaments outside of the promotion, he is intrigued by how he would perform in grappling in ONE if ever he decides to plunge into it.

He said:

"You know, ONE Championship they have Brazilian jiu-jitsu and no-gi grappling so I could do that."

Demetrious Johnson was last in ONE action in May last year in the United States, where he successfully defended the flyweight MMA world title against Brazilian rival Adriano Moraes in their trilogy title fight by unanimous decision.

But while he has not fought in MMA since, he has been competing in BJJ a lot and has had his fair share of success in it.