Demetrious Johnson looking to electrify the crowd at ONE’s Colorado show
ONE flyweight world champion and MMA all-time great Demetrious Johnson will be making his fight return on US soil at ONE Fight Night 10.
The Cinco de Mayo weekend fight card will be ONE Championship's first-ever live event in North America. With that, Demetrious Johnson will be fighting in front of an American audience for the first time in four years.
Needless to say, Johnson's "coming-home" fight will be welcomed with open arms by the capacity crowd at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado. 'Mighty Mouse' created much of his great legacy in the US and nearly every MMA fan, from hardcore to casual, understands the kind of impact he's had on the sport.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Johnson spoke about his career so far and his much-awaited trilogy bout with Adriano Moraes in front of a US audience at ONE Fight Night 10:
"It’s a culmination of many years of hard work. Headlining the very first [ONE] show in the U.S., I’m going to put on a show. I plan on blowing the roof off."
Johnson's return to the US is set to go full circle. The former UFC champ has come a long way since debuting in ONE Championship in 2019. It's quite fitting that his last performance in the US was as a world champion and now, four years later, he once again returns with gold around his waist.
Read the entire SI interview here.
Demetrious Johnson's crazy journey leading to ONE Fight Night 10
Demetrious Johnson's topsy-turvy journey in ONE Championship alone has enough riveting drama to fill an entire career.
DJ moved to the Asian martial arts organization in an unprecedented trade between the UFC and ONE. Needless to say, Johnson was expected to steamroll ONE's flyweight division at the time. He was, after all, the winningest world champion in UFC history.
Despite winning his first three bouts in ONE, they weren't the dominant displaus everyone expected of Johnson. Perhaps Asian competitors, being naturally adept at fighting in lower weight classes, gave DJ a different caliber of competition.
Johnson's first bout was a back-and-forth battle with Yuya Wakamatsu, who closed the American's left eye. Next up was Tatsumitsu Wada, who significantly controlled DJ's back but ultimately lost a close unanimous decision.
Next came Johnson's shut-out unanimous decision win over Danny Kingad, which won him the ONE flyweight world Grand Prix silver belt.
Upon facing then-ONE flyweight world champ Adriano Moraes for the belt, DJ was dominated on the ground and challenged quite well on the feet. Moraes then became the first man to knock out Demetrious Johnson, retaining his world title in the process.
After briefly venturing into uncharted territory by competing in a fun mixed-rules bout against Rodtang Jitmuangnon at ONE X, DJ went back and faced Moraes again in a rematch at ONE on Prime Video 1.
In a poetic turn of events, Demetrious Johnson learned from his past mistakes and delivered the Knockout of the Year by stopping Moraes in the same manner as their first fight.
Now that he is heading for the first rubber match of his career at ONE Fight Night 10, expect to see Johnson bring out the same greatness that made him a household name in America.