FREE FULL FIGHT: MMA legend Demetrious Johnson shows his class in dominant beatdown of Tatsumitsu Wada
ONE flyweight MMA world champion Demetrious Johnson has not been in action in over a year now but remains among the top draws in the promotion.
To remind fans of how dominant 'Mighty Mouse' has been in the 'Home of Martial Arts', ONE Championship recently uploaded one of his explosive matches early in his promotional journey on its YouTube page.
The match was that between Johnson and Japanese star Tatsumitsu Wada in the ONE Flyweight MMA World Grand Prix semifinals in August 2019.
Check out the video, which has now garnered over a 100,000 views, below:
Against the taller Wada, Demetrious Johnson started slowly as he sized up his opponent. He made early attempts for a takedown but the Japanese was able to stuff them and even managed to take control things on the ground in the opening round.
In the succeeding rounds, however, the American MMA legend stamped his class on Wada with his crisp striking and solid work in the clinch in the second round and swarming grappling game in the third to swing the tide in his favor and book the unanimous decision victory.
The win thrust Demetrious Johnson to the Grand Prix Finals against Filipino fighter Danny Kingad, who, in turn, he defeated by decision two months later.
Demetrious Johnson says jiu-jitsu a good foundation for MMA
Having renewed appreciation for jiu-jitsu the past year, Demetrious Johnson believes that the sport is a good foundation to start MMA.
He shared this in an a recent episode of his MightyCast podcast, where he had as guest ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo, who made his MMA debut at ONE 167 on June 7 in Thailand.
Demetrious Johnson highlighted the qualities of jiu-jitsu as a foundation for MMA, saying:
"If my kids were to fight, I would have them do jiu-jitsu first, because you cannot teach 18 years of grappling. You just can't. The grips, the sweeps, the balance. You can't do it that all."
He added:
"When it comes to boxing, you can just [teach] them to drop the weight like that. You can learn in two years to control the distance and you're good to go."
Check out what he had to say below:
For the past year, Johnson has been competing in a number BJJ tournaments and has had a lot of success. He recently won the gold in the brown belt belt Master 2 featherweight class at the 2024 IBJJF Pan Championship in Florida.