“I could do that” - Demetrious Johnson down to dabble in ONE’s world-class submission grappling realm
Demetrious Johnson has made significant strides in his BJJ journey. With that, the legend has said he is now open to competing in submission grappling under ONE Championship's banner.
The reigning ONE flyweight MMA world champion recently shared this on his Mighty podcast, highlighting that no-gi grappling is something he is willing to explore in the 'Home of Martial Arts' apart from his traditional lane of mixed martial arts.
'Mighty Mouse' said:
"You know, ONE Championship they have Brazilian jiu-jitsu and no-gi grappling so I could do that."
Check out what he had to say below:
Demetrious Johnson has been competing in Brazilian jiu-jitsu a lot of late and has achieved his fair share of success.
The 37-year-old martial artist recently won a gold winner in the brown belt Master 2 featherweight class at the 2024 IBJJF Pan Championship in Florida.
In MMA, Johnson was last in action at ONE Fight Night 10 in May last year in the United States, where he successfully defended the ONE flyweight world title over Brazilian rival Adriano Moraes by unanimous decision in their trilogy title fight.
Mikey Musumeci possible opponent for Demetrious Johnson in submission grappling in ONE Championship
There is no official word yet if Demetrious Johnson will compete in submission grappling in ONE Championship. In the event that he does push through with it, a possible opponent for him is fellow American fighter Mikey Musumeci.
Musumeci is currently the ONE flyweight submission grappling king, right smack in the division of Johnson. 'Darth Rigatoni' has also expressed his interest in taking on 'Mighty Mouse' in a grappling duel.
Musumeci is no longer a stranger to being challenged in submission grappling by top MMA fighters. Back in August, he defended his world title against former ONE strawweight king Jarred 'The Monkey God' Brooks.
He went on to retain his world title by way of submission late in their 10-minute title clash through a nifty triangle-armbar combination.
Of course, Demetrious Johnson would not be an ordinary MMA-based opponent for Musumeci as he has delved in BJJ and grappling and has had success in it.