ONE title flyweight contender Demetrius Johnson revealed that he was excited to land there.
“Mighty Mouse” will take on Adriano Moras on Friday at ONE on Amazon Prime 1. This match is a replay of their previous encounter in April 2021. In that game, Johnson was eliminated in the second round. That suspension loss was the first of his career.
Before returning to the ONE Championship cage, the 36-year-old reflects on how he got into the promotion. Johnson was traded from the UFC in October 2018, just months after his title loss at UFC 227. In that fight, the then flyweight champion lost to Henry Cejudo by a split decision.
Due to Demetrious Johnson’s long-standing title, many assumed he was going to have a trilogy showdown with “Triple C.” Instead, he was traded from promotion to ONE Championship. In return, the UFC acquired former Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren.
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Now, in acceptanceMorning Kombat At the time of the interview , the 36-year-old player has already reflected on the situation in which he was traded. In the interview, Johnson revealed that he actually welcomed the move. Before the trade, he was already looking for a possible exit from the UFC.
The reason is that the former champion wanted to do something new, like kickboxing. Johnson has the opportunity to do something new in ONE Championship, such as his mixed-rules match against Rodtang Jitmuangnon in 2021.
“So, I just lost to Henry Sey Hudo. I remember Malki [Kawa] coming to me and asking ‘what do you want to do? I said ok, let’s see the scenery. I could go back and fight Henry Cejudo and that was the only pay-per-view fight in my contract …for me, I can go back and fight Henry Cejudo again. Two things can happen, number one, I can beat him, but I’m back where I was.”
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Demetrious Johnson continues, “Second, I’ll probably lose to Henry Cejudo and I’ll be stuck in the original Position. Or, I can release my contract because they’re talking about getting rid of the lightweight division anyway, maybe I can go test free agency… ONE Championship is like, hey, we’re going to use you, Ben Askren, in exchange for Demetrious Johnson. UFC said ‘yes, sure, it sounds casual’. I was amazed, I was happy, I was like ‘Dope! “. It gave me the opportunity to do other things. When I played in the ONE Championship, my goal was to do something different.”
What do you think of Demetrious Johnson’s comments? Speak in the comments section below!
This article was first published on BJPENN.COM
