Exclusive: Demetrious Johnson Calls Fighting For ONE Championship ‘Breath Of Fresh Air’
Demetrious Johnson is thriving under the ONE Championship banner. Johnson was traded from the UFC to the Singapore-based mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion last year.
He made his debut for ONE in March as part of the promotion’s Flyweight Grand Prix tournament. “”Mighty Mouse” finished Yuya Wakamatsu in the second round via guillotine choke from Japan in the tournament’s quarter-finals. He made his return this past weekend, advancing in the tournament yet again by besting Tatsumitsu Wada via unanimous decision in their semi-final matchup.
Shortly before the bout, Johnson spoke to LowKickMMA to discuss his new home under the ONE banner. The promotion’s atmosphere is vastly different from that of the UFC, where fighters don’t have to trash-talk to hype their fights. Johnson finds this to be a breath of fresh air.
“It is a breath of fresh air, I’m in Singapore just focusing on getting adjusted to the time zone and not worried one bit about creating drama to create a buzz.”
Late last year, ONE Championship launched its eSports division, in which Johnson, a veteran gamer with a strong Twitch following, will serve as a Chief Brand Ambassador. Johnson teased a ONE eSports event that will be coming up soon.
“A lot of great things for ONE eSports, we have an event coming up, I can’t say the date. I’ll be a part of creating content, also help organizing or wherever they need me. We just created some fun content for viewers with world champion Xian so look out for that.”
What do you make of Johnson’s comments regarding his tenure with ONE Championship?
