“Laying down a foundation for the future” – Demetrious Johnson believes he and Rodtang are opening new doors with mixed fight
At ONE X, ONE Championship's biggest event yet, Demetrious Johnson will face ONE flyweight Muay Thai champion Rodtang in a mixed rules bout. What the former UFC champion and the Muay Thai living legend are about to take part in has the potential to change the landscape in both of their sports.
In an interview with Sportskeeda MMA's Dylan Bowker, Johnson spoke about what his fight with Rodtang means for the future of both Muay Thai and MMA:
"Like I said there's only been, I've only seen two of them, Cro Cop and Shinya Aoki one. So for me to go to be part of that kind of, you know, mixed martial arts history that, hey, there was a time where, I think like Yamamoto has done it before too."
He added:
"So those guys have, you know, submitted their names in that legacy, in that special rules fight where an athlete completely does something different. So I guess you say me and Rodtang are kind of, you know, almost laying down a foundation for the future. People want to do it and that is possible."
Watch our exclusive interview with Demetrious Johnson below:
Demetrious Johnson vs. Rodtang isn't the first mixed rules match involving a ONE fighter
As Demetrious Johnson alluded to, there have been other mixed-rules bouts in history, particularly the one involving former 4-time ONE lightweight champion, Shinya Aoki. 'Tobikan Judan' fought K-1 kickboxer and cosplayer Yuichiro Nagashima in a promotion called Fighting and Entertainment Group.
The bout took place in 2010, just two years before Aoki made his first appearance in ONE Championship. At this point in his career, 'Tobikan Judan' was already considered an icon of Japanese MMA while Nagashima was nowhere near his star power. The fight, however, was memorable for all the wrong reasons.
In the most notorious mixed rules bout, Japanese MMA royalty Shinya Aoki took on K-1's Cosplay King Yuichiro Nagashima at Dynamite!! 2010. Aoki did his best to waste away time in the Kickboxing round, but got finished just seconds into the MMA round.
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The first round was a three-minute kickboxing round, where Aoki blatantly broke the rules by excessively clinching, going for illegal takedowns and falling purposely to the ground. The former ONE champion was obviously avoiding any engagement with Nagashima and ran out the clock. The crowd expressed their dislike and booed heavily as they reached the end of the round.
The second round, a 5-minute MMA round, saw a completely different story. Aoki, seemingly thinking that Nagashima had no answer to his grappling, recklessly dove in for a double leg right at the bell.
With no set-up, Aoki left himself open for Nagashima to connect with a flying knee to his jaw. 'Tobikan Judan' was out almost instantly.
Here's to hoping that Demetrious Johnson has studied this bout extensively with the hope that he won't repeat the same mistake Aoki made.