On Friday, August 26, Demetrious Johnson steps back inside the ONE Championship Circle in an attempt to add another World Championship to his legendary resume.
However, the last attempt did not go as he had hoped.
ONE Flyweight World Champion Adriano Moraes finished “Mighty Mouse” in the second round with a stunning knockout that shook up the mixed martial arts world. But that result lifted the pressure from Johnson going into the rematch at ONE 161.
“I mean, at the end of the day, I have nothing to lose. I’ve just lost, damn it. We’ve both proven so much in the sport of mixed martial arts. For me, my challenge is I haven’t beat him yet, so I have a challenge in front of me. I have to go prove I can beat this man,” Johnson told ONE.
Heading into the second meeting with “Mikinho,” Johnson has put a renewed effort on his ground game.
Knowing Moraes’ BJJ pedigree, Johnson is preparing himself for whatever may happen in the rematch.
“Training is going great. I already feel like I’m in great shape. I will say the biggest thing is because I joined a jiu-jitsu school. And now I’m training pure jiu-jitsu. Usually, when I’m in not in fight camp, the gym that I trained at is so far away. It’s basically an hour and 15 minutes away,” said Johnson.
“I found a legit jiu-jitsu gym under a new professor Yan McCane – a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt for 10 years. [He’s an] absolute monster. Very knowledgeable. Now, I’ve been doing a lot more jiu-jitsu because it’s eight minutes from my house and a gold mine for me because it kind of breathes life back into my development.”
Johnson, who returned to the win column in a special rules superfight against ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang Jitmaungnon at ONE X, is beaming ahead of ONE 161.
Considered by many to be the greatest of all time, Johnson is ready to grab gold one more time in his illustrious career.
Ahead of ONE 161 on Friday, August 26, “Mighty Mouse” feels fully prepared and confident that he has done everything he needs to in order to walk out of the Singapore Indoor Stadium with the gold.
“As I said, I’m working my ground game, working on my stand-up. I’m making sure when I step in the Circle on August 26 in Singapore, I’m the best version of myself. That’s what I’m always striving for. I’m always striving for perfection and I just hope that I go out there and execute and not make any mistakes.”
