ONE Flyweight World Champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson cemented his status as the greatest of all time after ending his trilogy with Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes with a win.
Johnson delivered a convincing performance en route to a unanimous decision over Moraes to retain his strap in the main event of ONE Fight Night 10 this past Saturday, 6 May, at the sold-out 1stBank Center in Colorado.
For ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong, Johnson checks all the boxes in the ‘GOAT’ category.
“As a martial artist, if you fight in a very narrow, defined rule set, unified MMA rule set, does that make you the best fighter in the world? No, it doesn’t. But if you start doing crazy stuff like DJ, fighting mixed rules against a [legendary] Muay Thai KO artist, you start doing this other stuff,” he said.
“[He won] two titles, the two most prestigious belts in the world on opposite sides of the planet. Nobody has done what DJ has done, full stop. That, to me, is legacy. That, to me, is GOAT material.”
Sityodtong is certainly on point.
Before joining ONE, Johnson dominated the flyweight division in the West, holding the record for most World Title defenses in any weight class with 11, and most wins in the division with 13.
When he joined The Home of Martial Arts, Johnson won the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix, beat Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon in a unique mixed rules super-fight, and cemented his run in Asia by winning the ONE Flyweight World Title.
“That’s what makes DJ special. He’ll fight anybody, everywhere, under any rule set. You tell me what other athlete will do that,” Sityodtong said.
“That’s why, again, when you say GOAT, you got to strip away the marketing, strip away the rhetoric. All the organizations, including us, obviously do marketing, but you got to strip that away and look at the skill set. Ask expert martial artists, and they will tell you this guy is the GOAT.”
When asked for his input, Johnson stated that it really depends on the perspective of the person, though he did say that there are standards.
And while he’s not about to proclaim himself as the greatest, Johnson believes he belongs in there.
“Honestly, it’s always going to be based on the person’s perspective. For me, what I like to look at [with] the guys who are on that GOAT list, I like to see their complete skill set,” he said.
“Can they grapple? Can they strike? Can they clinch? Can they wrestle? That’s what I like to know. When I look at myself as one of those guys, I’ve shown in my skill set that I can grapple, I got a great clinch, I got great striking, I got great jiu-jitsu, I’m very creative in the cage.”
Read More From ONE Championship:
Demetrious Johnson Triumphant In Epic ONE Flyweight World Title Trilogy With Adriano Moraes
Rodtang Protects Flyweight Muay Thai Throne With Second-Round KO Of Edgar Tabares
Mikey Musumeci Submits Osamah Almarwai To Retain ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Title
