Demetrious Johnson: “I think Jake [Paul] can knock [Anthony Joshua] out”

Demetrious Johnson has weighed in with his thoughts on the highly discussed Jake Paul-Anthony Joshua bout, and he would seemingly not be surprised if the influencer interloper were to stop the former Olympic medalist and multiple time heavyweight world champion.

This thought was expressed by the record-setting UFC champion, as well as former ONE Championship titleholder, during a recent interview he was doing on his YouTube channel. DJ was speaking to former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley as part of the former’s channel Mighty, and the two delved into several subjects.

In an excerpt of the interview posted to X account @Home_of_Fight, in previewing next week’s Netflix blockbuster boxing bout with AJ vs. Paul, Johnson said,

“I think Jake can knock him out. Anthony Joshua has been knocked out by some weird a** shots before. Andy Ruiz, [Daniel] Dubois knocked him out with a short overhand right, right? Jake Paul can land one of those shots, he can. If Anthony Joshua doesn’t get on his bicycle and start moving around and fight Jake Paul like a boxer. Like pop, oh you missed, oh, pop, pop, like use that range.”

“Start hitting the body, make Jake Paul work, make him miss. Yeah, he can destroy Jake Paul, but I don’t see that happening. I think he’s going to try to prove a point and you know what, maybe my black a** don’t know nothing. I don’t know s**t about boxing, right. But I feel that Jake Paul can potentially knock out Anthony Joshua. I’m just saying it.”

Demetrious Johnson comments on big UFC 323 happenings with Alexandre Pantoja and Henry Cejudo

Demetrious Johnson also recently directed his focus toward some more MMA focused analysis in recent times after the UFC’s final numbered event of the calendar year and also perhaps the promotion’s final pay-per-view event ever.

With Johnson being the most acclaimed flyweight champion in UFC history, his viewpoint on Alexandre Pantoja losing his hold on the 125 pound strap in less than thirty seconds by way of an injury. While ‘Mighty Mouse’ seemed to playfully tease how his eleven fight championship record at flyweight would remain intact, Johnson did also show his respect for Pantoja by saying that he felt like the Brazilian had enough skill and dominance to usurp his flyweight title defense record.

DJ also offered up his thoughts on the swan song bout of former two-time opponent Henry Cejudo, who went out on a loss last Saturday. Johnson mentioned feeling a level of regret with Cejudo returning from his MMA retirement in 2020 to now hang it up on a four-fight losing streak. Demetrious Johnson mentioned how he sold it to Cejudo as MMA being easy money for small athletes of their dimensions, but mentioned how father time is undefeated in the aftermath of the surging, young contender Payton Talbott besting Henry Cejudo on December 6th.