Demetrious Johnson responds to Jonathan Haggerty’s callout, rules out fight with English star
ONE flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson has responded to Jonathan Haggerty’s recent callouts.
The British Muay Thai star has been respectfully calling for a fight with ‘Mighty Mouse’ before the MMA great retires from the sport. Now competing in the same weight class as Johnson, Haggerty has been speaking about transitioning into MMA or fighting in a mixed-rules contest for some time.
Regarding Demetrious Johnson, Haggerty knows that he is only going to be competing for a couple more years at most.
The flyweight GOAT has been very open about not wanting to compete once he is past his very best and has an exact plan for the final chapters of his illustrious career.
In an interview with ONE Championship, 'DJ' spoke about the road map that he has drawn up and how it does not include a fight with Jonathan Haggerty:
“I know I have a few fights left in my career. I honestly have a path of what I want to do next. Like I know my path, I see the end of the tunnel. And as of right now, I’m sitting in my truck about to pick my kids up from school, I know what that path looks like whether win or lose, and he’s not on it, unless it’s going to be an outrageous amount of number that entices me.”
Demetrious Johnson looks back on an incredible 2022
2022 was another great year in the legendary career of Demetrious Johnson. ‘Mighty Mouse’ ended the year as a world champion, something which is not new to one of the greatest of all time.
Johnson competed twice in the last 12 months and pulled off two huge wins. In his first appearance of 2022, DJ defeated Muay Thai icon Rodtang Jitmuangnon in the promotion’s first-ever mixed-rules fight at ONE X.
He followed that up with an even more impressive victory by avenging his loss to Adriano Moraes and becoming the ONE flyweight world champion with a devastating flying knee knockout at ONE on Prime Video 1.
Discussing his incredible year with ONE Championship, Demetrious Johnson said:
“It was great. I fought twice. I fought Rodtang [Jitmuangnon] in a mixed-rules fight at ONE X, ten-year anniversary for ONE Championship. After that fight, stock rose, especially coming off that loss to Adriano [Moraes] after probably a year off."
Johnson added:
“I came back and fought Adriano where I thought I was going to fight somebody else, because Kairat Akhmetov is on a four-fight winning streak, and I figured he was going to have a title shot. But with the ONE Championship and Amazon Prime deal, Chatri [Sityodtong] wanted to have a banger for the first inaugural [show]. I didn’t disappoint, I believe. I went out there and put on a great fight and finished Adriano. I’m still healthy and blessed. I can’t complain, it’s been a great year.”