Issue 143

July 2016

Flyweight superhero Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson says he’s proved he’s the best in the world and now he’s chasing records held by the greatest fighter ever.

Demetrious Johnson’s most recent opponent was the most accomplished athlete he’d ever faced. Henry Cejudo was an Olympic gold medalist, undefeated in his 10-fight mixed martial arts career and in his athletic primer. But he was no match for the only man to ever hold the Octagon’s flyweight championship. A torrent of perfectly-placed elbows, knees and punches left ‘The Messenger’ in a heap as his conqueror wheeled away in celebration. It was over after just 169 seconds. ‘Mighty Mouse’ made it look easy. 

Pound-for-pound

On a night when the UFC’s official pound-for-pound king, Jon Jones, failed to live up to his lofty standards, a lot of people began to entertain the idea of a new world number one. Based on his performance at UFC 197 alone, ‘DJ’ was the new gold standard. 

The UFC flyweight champion has no doubts about it – there’s no one better than him in the Octagon. He told Joe Rogan as much moments after he’d dispatched the latest in a long line of challengers this April. His list of accomplishments an ability to adapt on the fly to win a fight from any position means his fighting prowess is unmatched.

“I can fight anywhere in mixed martial arts – in the clinch, on the ground – wherever it is,” he says. “The way I compose myself, I believe I am the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world and I’m going to keep on continuing to prove it. People might disagree with me but my job is to go out there and prove that I’m correct. 

“I’ve always thought that. Now I’m just being vocal about it. I just believe that if I stay on that path I’m on, keep on winning and keep showing different types of stuff in the Octagon, eventually people will jump on board. My coaches believe I am and I’ve always believed I am.”

It’s hard to argue against him. Johnson is undefeated in 11 flyweight fights. He’s the only champion in the UFC’s 125lb history. He has the latest finish in UFC history. He beats challengers at their own game. And he dominates his strongest opponents. 

Finishing a purebred athlete like Cejudo comes as no surprise. Johnson may have been slightly shocked the finish came as quickly as it did, but there was no doubt that if he pulls the trigger at the right time, the judges will have an early night.

“I just go out there and fight and whatever happens, happens,” he adds. “The knee landed in the liver and I just ran with it and kept on the pressure. I expect to be able to do it to anyone if it lands right. Like I said, it landed perfect – the liver shot – and like he said, if you’ve ever been hit in the body, it paralyzes you. 

“I knew when I heard him grunt I was like, ‘I’ve won this. I’m going to finish this fight.’ If you look at those shots to the liver and to the body, they were well-timed knees. When everything’s just perfect it leads to that knockout.”

Natural progression

Few fighters have displayed such an exponential improvement in skills as Johnson. From losing his Zuffa debut to Brad Pickett as a part-time bantamweight to finally earning his rightful place on top of the 125lb pile, he’s looked better and more dangerous every time he’s competed. Part of that success is down to countless hours of work at the gym under the guidance of Matt Hume.

His evolution is informed by employing combat sports’ greatest hits. Many fighters are fixated on adapting skills for use in MMA, but DJ has a broader view of the fighting landscape. Why just look at his sport for inspiration when you can pick out the finest examples of technique from the greatest pound-for-pound pure strikers in history? 

“Honestly the elements I add to the game aren’t from mixed martial artists,” he tells FO. “It’s from kickboxers, Muay Thai fighters, boxers – stuff like that – because MMA is a combination of all of them. I try to look at the people who have done great in sports.

“Ernesto Hoost had a great high nine. Floyd Mayweather is a brilliant mastermind of how to go in there, destroy his opponents and not get hit. I look at Manny Pacquiao and how he switches from southpaw – how he just loads up on strikes, throws lots of combinations and works a lot of angles. I try to get things from every single person, every time there’s an athlete that’s on top of a sport, not just mixed martial arts.”

That’s not to say the 29-year-old can’t absorb anything from the cage’s most elite technicians though. “I love how Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ throws his high nine, how he does body shots and uppercuts,” adds Mighty Mouse. “José Aldo, Conor McGregor – they all display something great. I try to take something from those guys, but not a lot.”

His influences add up to make Johnson an irresistible force in the cage. He fights with a fluidity on the floor and the on feet that is yet to be replicated by anyone else. He outstrikes his opponents by a ratio of more than two to one and keeps the fight wherever he wants with his peerless grappling. When someone has presented anything resembling a challenge, he’s taken a rematch and defeated them in even more decisive fashion. So what’s left for him to achieve?

Leaving a legacy

Mighty Mouse has made no secret of one of his main ambitions. He wants to break record for the most successive UFC title defenses. Anderson Silva set the number to beat at 10. DJ currently has eight, putting him within striking distance of setting a new benchmark that could prove to be untouchable. “That’s one of my biggest goals,” he admits. “It’s all about writing your name in the history books and leaving a fingerprint after you’re gone.”

But who will he fight to break that record? He’s beaten the UFC’s number-one contender twice (Joseph Benavidez) and no one’s calling for a do-over with the number-two guy (Cejudo) any time soon. In the days after that UFC 197 triumph, Fighters Only asks whether he’d considered who was next. “Nope! Just got home from the fight, washing these dishes,” he replies. “I want to get my body healthy. No more bruises or soreness, then I’ll be back in the gym working on my athletic ability and my overall fitness. I’ll start working out and hopefully the UFC calls.”

How about a super-fight with the 135lb champion? If anything would prove his pound-for-pound credentials, it’s moving up in weight and beating a man that’s 10lb heavier than him. If that man also happened to be Dominick Cruz, it would also give Johnson the chance to avenge his last defeat. 

“We’ll have to see,” he says. “Anything’s possible in the future. I woke up this morning weighing 136.2lb, and I had a burger, fries – all types of stuff. Going up would have to be a complete lifestyle change to put the weight on correctly – like GSP said he was going to do at middleweight. But if the money’s right, the fight makes sense or it’s just a fun fight I might just do it for the fans. You know, entertainment.

“I’m not a very big dude. I had beer last night, burgers, fries. I had three cupcakes the night before. I’m eating whatever I want and I’m still small. Granted, I just came off my weight cut, but anyone else who fights at 135 probably weighs 160 or 165. I’m just a small guy. 

“I’ve moved on from my losses. Yeah, I absolutely want to avenge them but at the same time I still lost those. I didn’t just brush them off. If the fight presents itself and I’m interested then maybe I’ll do it, but I don’t think too far ahead. People think a lot further ahead than I do. I just take it day by day and see what happens.”

We’ll mark that down as a very hopeful ‘maybe’. So what else motivates Mighty Mouse to continue to excel if not revenge? Simply, he loves fighting. His adoration of martial arts appears to be the driving force behind his insatiable attitude to training and becoming – quite possibly – the best there is.

“I love every second of it and I won’t take it for granted. There’s going to come a point in time when my body’s not going to be able to do what it’s doing now so I appreciate every single second in there. It’s all based off my preparation for the fights. I take it very seriously. I give myself 12 weeks to get ready for a fight. I’m always training and staying healthy so I make it work like you saw – natural. Switching from southpaw to orthodox, training at elevation, whatever I want. It’s thrilling.”

So are his results in the cage. First-round knockouts, last-gasp submissions and 25-minute displays of technical perfection played out at breakneck speed. If you’re still one of those fans that are yet to be persuaded to appreciate Demetrious Johnson, it’s time to wake up. You won’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.

It’s in the game: DJ has P4P PS4 skills too

Johnson is well known for his love of video games and his Twitch channel, where he plays the latest releases, chats to fans and gives away prizes. In a sport that’s notable for fan-friendliness, Johnson’s online community makes him one of the most accessible.

“Hanging out with the fans on Twitch – that’s just me doing my thing,” he says. “I try to be a good broadcaster so I interact with my fans.” The Mighty Squad is always recruiting new members.

Although he’s got some serious skills with a controller – he’s got p4p skills on Street Fighter 5 and beat hard-core favorite Dark Souls 3 in 30 hours – he admits his ability in the virtual Octagon can’t match his talents in real life. 

“I’m not very good at the UFC game,” he concedes. “It’s so hard for me because of the learning curve. I don’t want to take the time to learn it because there’s so many games coming out and I want to play those instead because I’ll enjoy them more.”

He was, however, able to beat ‘Rampage’ Jackson. He guided ‘The Phenom’ to victory against his fellow gaming enthusiast (who was playing as himself), but the humble champion admits he got lucky. “I fell down and I don’t know what happened,” he explains. “I was able to get the armbar. Shoutouts to Vitor Belfort for making that happen.”

Lord of the rematch: Three contenders dispatched again in emphatic style

There’s no one better at facing an opponent for the second time than Demetrious Johnson. Every time he’s booked to rematch a former foe, he’s able to adjust and perform even better than the first encounter. 

If the first fight was close, the rematch will be clear, or even a blowout. Few demand a trilogy fight once the flyweight champ has fought them twice. There’s no secret formula behind his success. It’s almost like he’s continueing from where he left off: 

“It depends on the opponent,” he explains. “Sometimes it takes time to find my range but I never forget. It’s just about preparation and continuing to evolve as a complete martial artist.” 

Here’s how he clinched his trio of second-time successes.

Ian McCall

‘Uncle Creepy’ claimed a controversial draw in March 2012 in Australia. Some thought his third-round onslaught was even worthy of a win. When the pair did it again three months later in Florida, DJ controlled pace and distance to wear McCall out and enter the final frame as the fresher fighter. There was no doubt about the decision this time.

Joseph Benavidez

Johnson escaped the first UFC 125lb title fight with a split-decision win in September 2012 after he went back and forth with the man from Team Alpha Male for 25 minutes. If there were any doubt about the champion’s credentials then, there were none 15 months later when he flattened one of MMA’s most durable fighters in 128 seconds.

John Dodson

When ‘The Magician’ was given another chance at the champ he couldn’t repeat his trick of dropping him in the first round and stunning him in the second. The undisputed lord of the flies delivered a dominant performance to leave his most dangerous opponent on the wrong side of scorecards that were more lopsided than their first encounter. 

Double trouble: Outgunned and outgrappled

Johnson has landed 613 significant strikes in his nine flyweight title fights more than double than that of his opponents, who only managed to land 274 combined. He’s also hit 41 takedowns – nearly six times as many as his opponents’ paltry seven.