Demetrious Johnson Urges Fighters To Train Smarter, Not Harder

Despite fighting in one of the most underappreciated divisions in all of MMA, flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson has proven to be dominant, becoming one of the top pound-for-pound fighters on the planet while staying extremely active as well.

Since winning the flyweight championship at UFC 152 in September 2012, Johnson has defended his belt five times and is set to defend it a sixth time in April. Compared to other champions such as Anthony “Showtime” Pettis, Chris Weidman, and Cain Velasquez, who have only fought three times since then, the flyweight king is clearly one of the most active fighters and champions on the roster.

So what is “Mighty Mouse’s” secret to staying healthy and being able to compete often? He credits this to his training strategies, electing to train smarter than most athletes:

“I train smart. I have a great group of guys I train with,” Johnson said on Wednesday night. “”My main sparring partner is Matt Hume. Even though he’s like 175, me and him mix it up.”

“”Picking on the old guy!” UFC Tonight host Michael Bisping interjected.

“Hey hey! That old man, he can handle himself in the Octagon,” Johnson replied.

Johnson may not come from one of MMA’s big-name camps, but training under legendary coach Matt Hume has definitely catered to his success. Having trained with Hume for so long, the two know each other quite well, which allows them to be intelligent when it comes to training.

Some athletes, especially MMA fighters, think the best way to train is to work as hard as possible by pushing their bodies to the limit. The heavyweight champ, Velasquez, is known for his almost barbaric work ethic and training style, but has suffered numerous injuries because of it. Because of that, perhaps “Mighty Mouse” is on to something here:

“I just train smart and make sure I don’t push my body to the point that it’s breaking.” “If I’m aching, I go ‘you know what, I’m not going to do this,'” he continued. “They’re like ‘hey, we’re going to do iron man’. I’m like ‘I’m going to sit this one out’. We have a great training session then I’m just going to relax, enjoy myself, and watch the young bucks do it.”

Although he may not train as “hard” as others, Johnson is still at the top of the food chain when it comes to mixed martial artists. He has absolutely dominated the 125-pound division in spectacular fashion, and he currently finds himself sitting at No. 3 on the pound-for-pound rankings list.

Elaborating more on his training philosophies in a previous interview with UFC.com, the champ said that his training revolves around quality over quantity:

“One of the biggest things I’ve learned from competing at a high level is that your body catches up to you,” he said. “Matt’s always told me it’s better to train smarter than harder, so it’s important to listen to my body, and listen to my coach. When he says I’ve done what I need to do, I can go home knowing I trained smart today.”

“Some people will say, ‘The other guy is doing ten times more than you,’ and yeah that’s all fine, but it’s about the quality of training not the amount of training that is important to me. I still go hard but I’m also smart about it.”

Johnson will try to continue the growth of the flyweight division and put on another great performance this April when he defends his title against Kyoji Horiguchi at UFC 186 from Montreal. He’s a true fighting champion, and it’s become more than painfully obvious that many UFC champions could take a page out of his playbook for success.