Why did Demetrious Johnson leave the UFC?
Demetrious Johnson is widely considered one of the best fighters to ever grace the UFC Octagon. In 2018, the once pound-for-pound king decided to leave the promotion after cracking a deal with Singapore's ONE Championship.
The agreement between UFC and ONE Championship marked the first trade between the two MMA promotions. Ben Askren, the ONE welterweight champion at the time, was traded in exchange for the UFC's Demetrious Johnson.
Matt Hume, Demetrious Johnson's coach, was the one who introduced the UFC champion to the executives at ONE championship. Johnson has always been an ardent follower of the Asian MMA circuit and was allured by ONE championship's offer. In an interview with MMA Weekly, Demetrious Johnson elaborated on making the switch to the Asian MMA promotion:
“I’ve always wanted to travel a lot and compete and I actually grew up watching Asian mixed martial arts with PRIDE mostly and to be able to have the opportunity to travel over to Asia to compete a totally different weight class, it was something I couldn’t pass up.
There’s multiple people involved in it. First Round Management, ONE Championship, Chatri, Matt Hume, the UFC, so it was a collective, people coming together and making something happen. And even Ben Askren. So I think it’s a great thing, I think if people want to be able to be traded and compete in different organizations I think that we should have that option on the table”, said Demetrious Johnson.
Demetrious Johnson's last UFC fight
Demetrious Johnson started his UFC career in 2010, fighting in the bantamweight division (135lbs). The Kentucky native found immense success in this weight category and decided to conquer the flyweight division as well. In his professional MMA career, DJ amassed a 27-3 record, certifying his dominance as the P4P best.
'Triple C' Henry Cejudo was Demetrious Johnson's most recent opponent in the UFC. Their initial fight took place at UFC 197 where DJ secured the TKO victory in round two. The rematch, which turned out to be Johnson's last UFC fight, took place at UFC 227 for the Flyweight title. Cejudo leveled their personal score by securing a unanimous decision victory.
Demetrious Johnson is slated to fight Flyweight champion Adriano Moraes on April 7th. Alongside 'Mighty Mouse', former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez will be fighting on the same card against Iuri Lapicus.