Demetrious Johnson on the difference between competing in gi and no-gi

In his strive for perfection, Demetrious Johnson has always been considered one of the best grapplers in MMA.

With an unmatched fight IQ, the ONE flyweight world champion is elite wherever the fight takes place. His grappling, however, is arguably his strongest skill set.

In the coming weeks, ‘Mighty Mouse’ will put that to the test when he competes at the IBJJF Masters Worlds for the very first time. Having always planned to test himself in submission grappling toward the end of his MMA career, Johnson has fallen in love with learning all the complexities of a new rule set.

Despite having so much success with his grappling in MMA and under the ONE Championship banner, 'Mighty Mouse' wanted a new challenge by learning and evolving his understanding of competing in the gi.

With his mind stimulated by all the new puzzles, solutions, and tricks of the trade that this presents, Johnson recently revealed that he hasn’t even done any MMA training since his last camp ahead of ONE Fight Night 10.

During an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Demetrious Johnson spoke about the decision to compete in the gi and how this makes it more challenging and interesting for him:

“I'm like, dude, this is like... like, I love the complexity of what the gi brings to the game. When I'm in no-gi, I'm just so athletic. I can just shift things down.”

Watch the full interview below:

Stepping into the the brown belt Master 2 featherweight division, Demetrious Johnson will be thrown into the mix with one of the most heavily populated brackets, looking to make his mark in submission grappling with his first foray into pro competition.

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