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Demetrious Johnson on BJJ Professor advancing him: “He wants to make sure I'm a nasty black belt”

ONE flyweight MMA world champion Demetrious Johnson has long been considered one of the best grapplers in the all-encompassing sport.

Away from the circle, he recently took the opportunity to prove this by competing in his first IBJJF grappling tournament and coming out on top of his bracket. ‘Mighty Mouse’ is still only a brown belt despite everything he has accomplished. While his list of submission victories and excellence at the highest level in ONE Championship would be enough for most professors to award their students a black belt, Johnson says he approaches things differently.

Choosing not to give ‘Mighty Mouse’ the highest level in jiu-jitsu yet, Demetrious Johnson revealed that his professor wants him to be an extremely high-level black belt once he does reach that stage. On an episode of his podcast, The Mightycast, Demetrious Johnson explained why he isn’t a black belt yet and the mentality behind it:

“Every Professor is different, right? You know, my Professor believes that a belt is given when a person has reached that level right, and he thinks that my ceiling is to be able to. When I become a black belt he wants to make sure I'm a nasty black belt.”

He added:

“Because he's like there's still so much knowledge for you to learn before you get your black belt and he goes, ‘Yeah, of course I can give you a black belt, but that's just me giving it to you.’ But I'd rather be a solid strong black belt. It’s like, you know, he wants people to look at me as like, ‘Yeah, this guy, he's a legit black belt.’”

Watch the full episode below:

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