“Grateful to be in a position I'm in” - Demetrious Johnson shares the significance of first world title reign in ONE
'Mighty Mouse' Demetrious Johnson is incredibly happy with the opportunity he's had to be able to fight in the ONE Championship. Since joining the organization, he's been able to capture the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix Championship and the ONE Flyweight World Championship.
In the ONE on Prime Video 1 post-fight press conference, the US-born athlete explained how happy he is to have the opportunity to compete in a Grand Prix. He was inspired to join MMA after watching the Grand Prix fights in PRIDE FC. Demetrious Johnson explained:
"It feels good. As I said, I'm a platinum guy, right? And when I signed with this organization, when he announced like the World Grand Prix, and once I saw that World Grand Prix platinum belt, I was like, I got to have that f***ing belt. I was like, I need that belt."
He added:
"I've always wanted to win a World Grand Prix. That was one of the things I grew up watching Cro Cop, Josh Barnett, you know, who was in PRIDE’s Openweight Grand Prix. It was something I really, really wanted."
In 2006 PRIDE FC hosted an Openweight Grand Prix featuring 15 fighters. They included Mirko Cro Cop, Josh Barnett, Alistair Overeem, Wanderlei Silva, and several others.
Johnson stated that being able to compete in a Grand Prix was an honor.
"So when I got to the World Grand Prix, I was kind of satisfied, and then you know, they came up with this belt, big and gold. So like I said, man, I'm grateful. Like, I'm just grateful to be in a position I'm in. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to perform on a beautiful platform like ONE Championship and a great partnership with Amazon Prime."
Demetrious Johnson is just too fast 💨
@MightyMouse #ONEX #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship https://t.co/6ojrTBcgVs
Demetrious Johnson is happy with ONE on Prime Video 1
With two consecutive events hosted, newly crowned ONE flyweight king Demetrious Johnson said he was happy with both ONE 160 and ONE on Prime Video 1. Demetrious Johnson explained in the post-fight press conference:
"We talked about this card. Let's talk about [ONE 160], the Thanh Le versus Tang Kai was an amazing fight back and forth. You got a brand new champion. And you also had Christian Lee taken out Ok. Man, Christian Lee looked amazing. Just took it straight to Ok."
He added:
"And jumping back into this card, you had Nong-O taking out Liam Harrison with just leg kicks. I think you also had the female Muay Thai going at it. I mean, this was a good way to kick off a great partnership with Amazon."
Between ONE 160 and ONE on Prime Video 1, these two fight events hosted a little bit of everything that ONE Championship offers. Exciting fights in MMA, Submission Grappling, Muay Thai, and Kickboxing. 'Mighty Mouse' felt it was a successful weekend.
Will Demetrious Johnson be able to submit Rodtang in their special rules super-fight at ONE X? @MightyMouse #ONEX #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship"Mighty Mouse" locks in the guillotine! 😱 Will Demetrious Johnson be able to submit Rodtang in their special rules super-fight at ONE X? @MightyMouse #ONEX #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship https://t.co/7dyBFwKwxV