"You never seen a matador fight a bull head-on" - Demetrious Johnson says his footwork will be key against Rodtang during Muay Thai rounds at ONE X

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Demetrious Johnson (L) will play a matador against a raging Rodtang (R) at ONE X. | [Photos: ONE Championship]

Demetrious Johnson looks like he has a pretty good idea of how he can keep up with Rodtang Jitmuangnon during the Muay Thai rounds of their special rules match at ONE X.

On its Facebook page, ONE Championship shared a video of Demetrious Johnson reacting to some of Rodtang’s fights. In one of the videos, ‘Mighty Mouse’ hailed the footwork of Walter Goncalves, which led to some clean shots.

Johnson said:

“Walter did a good job for making him miss so much and Rodtang was like, ‘Come and get me.’ Because he’s like, ‘I have to come get you,’ To me, if you don’t want somebody to run, then change the rules of Muay Thai instead of having Rodtang say, 'Come here, come here.' But yeah, that’s why when I see him chase people and say, ‘Come on, come on', I’m just like 'Well, I’m right here.’"

The MMA legend understands the challenge in front of him and says he will use his speed and footwork to his advantage during the fight. He continued:

“That’s the biggest thing when you fight somebody who’s going to take a shot for another shot, you just gotta use footwork. It’s like a matador and the bull. You’ve never seen a matador fight a bull head-on, right, because they usually lose. They’ll get killed. Rodtang is the bull, and I gotta make sure I use footwork and good feints and good speed to not get in that chaos he brings to the fight.”

Watch the video here:

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Demetrious Johnson believes rules can favor his speed

As a martial arts fan himself, Demetrious Johnson likes to see action in a match. However, as a fighter, he understands that rules are put in place for a reason and he’ll use it to his advantage when necessary.

Johnson said that while wrestling forces competitors to mix it up, he believes that it’s not the same case for MMA and Muay Thai. He recalled an instance in a wrestling match from his past when he was called for backing up.

Johnson said:

“I was using footwork just to show some feints and the guy was like, ‘Beep! One point green, do not back up again, I’m going to disqualify you.’ I always have that memory in my mind when people say, ‘Come on, fight me!’ It’s like, well, there’s no rule that I can’t use footwork and you know, to negate that battle in this fight.”

Demetrious Johnson and Rodtang are set to square off at ONE X on March 26th. The event is set to go down at the Singapore Indoor Stadium and promises to be the biggest show in the history of ONE Championship.

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