ONE Championship is making headlines once again.
A week after signing one of the top five lightweights in the world Eddie Alvarez, ONE is currently in talks for a first-of-its-kind trade with western counterpart Ultimate Fighting Championship.
The developing story was first reported by MMA Junkie.
The deal in the works would send reigning ONE Welterweight World Champion Ben Askren (18-0) to the UFC in exchange for former UFC World Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson (27-3-1).
ESPN would later confirm the story, saying that the deal is just being finalized.
Though Johnson lost the belt to Henry Cejudo last August via a controversial split decision loss, ONE Championship Chairman Chatri Sityodtong believes that “Mighty Mouse” is still the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world today.
“In my opinion, Demetrious Johnson is the number one pound-for-pound greatest mixed martial artist in history. His extraordinary achievements speak for themselves, but I am most impressed by his character, his values, and his life story,” Sityodtong shared in a Facebook post.
“He is a real-life superhero who inspires the world to dream more, do more, and be more in life.”
Sityodtong though did not comment on the possible trade. Johnson’s head trainer Matt Hume is the matchmaker for ONE.
For his part, the ONE Welterweight Champions said on Twitter that he is “98-percent” sure that he is UFC-bound.
