Demetrious Johnson News

Justin Golightly - December 1, 2017

Back in September at UFC 215, former flyweight title challenger Henry Cejudo returned with a vengeance and took it all out on Wilson Reis. He knocked the contender out in the second round to earn Performance of the Night. Not only did he bounce back from recent losses, he looked like he improved drastically and added tons of new tools to his game. The champion Demetrious Johnson said himself that Cejudo’s fight with Sergio Pettis at UFC 218 determines who the No. 1 contender will be, but TJ Dillashaw is pushing a move to flyweight for an immediate title shot. A fight that Cejudo thinks “Mighty Mouse” Johnson wins. “Hopefully, the winner of this fight [with Sergio Pettis at UFC 218] fights for the belt. I want to fight for the belt. Demetrious [Johnson]. If anything — I don’t know, I don’t mind mind the idea — I can welcome TJ Dillashaw to the flyweight division. You know, I’m not afraid. Cutting down 10 extra pounds to this weight class? It gonna’ be a big difference. I’m a big 125-er and I know what it’s like cut 10-pounds. An extra 10-pounds on top of that. And personally, I think DJ would easily get the win [against TJ Dillashaw].”

Justin Golightly - November 17, 2017

After reclaiming his UFC bantamweight title from Cody Garbrandt at UFC 217, TJ Dillashaw only has his sights set on one fighter: Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson. He’s arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter right now, a dominant flyweight champion, and has just broken Anderson Silva’s title-defense record with a move out of a comic book. A fight like this could be one of the most elite MMA fights of all time. It’s a no brainer that Dillashaw wants to make the fight happen, especially since it was in the works before Johnson’s last defense against Ray Borg. Coach and MMA legend Duane ‘Bang’ Ludwig recently opened up more about the potential fight. “We were en route to fight Demetrious [Johnson] at one point and the direction he was taking with his strength and conditioning coach, TJ [Dillashaw] was looking phenomenal on the mitts and the sparring and the training and he looked good, his spirits were good. So, obviously we didn’t make 125 and fight and compete, but when were were en route of that, nothing really changed. TJ’s not a big ‘35er, so he can make ‘25. It’s not going to be easy, but he’s the most dedicated person that I’ve ever seen. He really is. I think it needs to happen.”

Tom Taylor - November 8, 2017

Having reclaimed the UFC bantamweight title with a second-round knockout of Cody Garbrandt, TJ Dillashaw is now hell-bent on a flyweight title fight with dominant divisional king Demetrious Johnson – perhaps the best fighter alive today. “Demetrious can’t run from this one,” Dillashaw said shortly after he defeated Garbrandt to reclaim the bantamweight title. “This one’s too big. (Johnson) broke his (title-defense) record. He got to pad himself and break his record. Now, let’s make some money.”

Tom Taylor - November 5, 2017

Having reclaimed the UFC bantamweight title with a beautiful second-round knockout of Cody Garbrandt, TJ Dillashaw is now ready to move onto the next phase of his career – and he’s hoping that’s a fight with UFC flyweight champ Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. “Demetrious can’t run from this one,” Dillashaw said shortly after he defeated Garbrandt to win the title. “This one’s too big. (Johnson) broke his (title-defense) record. He got to pad himself and break his record. Now, let’s make some money.”

Justin Golightly - October 25, 2017

Cody Garbrandt is about to squash one of the biggest rivalries in MMA with the violence that awaits us at UFC 217. He’ll be defending his title against TJ Dillashaw, who needs no introduction. Potentially stacking back-to-back wins over long-time bantamweight king Dominick Cruz and former champion Dillashaw, would be a huge feather in the hat of Garbrandt. However, the current belt holder doesn’t want to just stop there, he wants to fight Demetrious Johnson next to become a two-division champion. He’s talked about it before, but he doubled-down on this ‘business move’ today on the UFC 217 conference call. “With a knockout over TJ [Dillashaw] I’ve wiped out the division. There’s a big gap between myself, then it goes [Dominick Cruz], and then TJ, and then it falls off from there so TJ is my next adversary, my next challenge. I know what he brings to the table. I’m focused and prepared on that, to wipe him out and then go on from there. I always like to have a fight ahead of myself, you know, plan ahead, and obviously I’m focused on TJ, but Mighty Mouse is next at 125 pounds. I can make 125 on November 4th if I wanted to.”

Russell Ess - October 19, 2017

Demetrious Johnson is coming off a historic win with his 11th consecutive title defense. In doing so, “Mighty Mouse” surpassed Anderson Silva’s record for the most consecutive title defenses and could continue to add to it still being the active UFC flyweight champion. Not only did Johnson pull off the win and set the new record at UFC 216, but “Mighty Mouse” did it with pizzazz by pulling off a finishing move that many have never seen before. Johnson used a suplex to armbar sequence in the fifth round that had everyone in awe.

Justin Golightly - October 13, 2017

Demetrious Johnson just beat Anderson Silva’s record, successfully defended his title, pulled off one of the most amazing submissions in UFC history, but he’s always on to the next challenge. He’s going to continue to try and take his gaming to the next level by competing at TwitchCon this year. He’ll be joined in the tournament by cosplaying UFC strawweight Angela Hill and the first ever UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver. All three of which have streamed their gameplay on Twitch. Oh yeah let’s go @H1Z1KotK can’t wait to compete at the invitational this Sunday. #takeyourshot #TwitchCon2016 pic.twitter.com/nBwl8rLxzG

Tom Taylor - October 12, 2017

Last weekend, UFC flyweight king Demetrious Johnson submitted Ray Borg, defending his title for a record-breaking 11th-consecutive time in the process. Given Johnson’s almost unfathomable dominance at flyweight, there have been widespread calls for him to move up to the 135-pound bantamweight division. Apparently, however, he plans to stay at 125 pounds, and further cement his legacy as MMA’s most dominant champion.

Russell Ess - October 10, 2017

I couldn’t even believe this as I was watching it. #Repost @lovatojrbjj ・・・ This is getting posted everywhere, but it’s too beautiful for me not to share as well! Congrats @mightymouse125 for making history & thank you for displaying so much incredible technique in all of your fights! #demetriousjohnson #UFC #JiuJitsu #MMA A post shared by Joe Rogan (@joerogan) on Oct 8, 2017 at 10:21am PDT

Chris Taylor - October 8, 2017

UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson made history at last night’s UFC 216 event in Las Vegas! “Mighty Mouse” recorded his eleventh consecutive title defense by scoring a dramatic fifth-round submission victory over Ray Borg in the co-main event of UFC 216.

Tom Taylor - October 8, 2017

Last night, in the co-main event of UFC 216, UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson shattered the record for consecutive title defenses in the UFC, moving to eleven-straight with a jaw-dropping fifth-round armbar over Ray Borg. In the wake of this dazzling win, Johnson is once again being widely referred to as the greatest of all time. At the UFC 216 post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White gave his take on the GOAT debate.

Tom Taylor - October 8, 2017

Last night, in the co-main event of UFC 216, Demetrious Johnson stepped into the Octagon with the intention of defending his flyweight belt for a record-breaking 11th-straight time. He did so with flying colors, dominating his young foe Ray Borg to a ridiculous fifth-round sequence in which he hit him with a suplex, caught his arm in mid-air, and locked up the arm-bar for the win. Given the historical implications and jaw-dropping nature of this win, it should come as no surprise that it generated some interesting reactions from the MMA community. See some of the best reactions to Demetrious Johnson’s incredible victory below!

Russell Ess - October 6, 2017

UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson (26-2-1)  has the chance to set the record for the most consecutive UFC title defenses on Saturday night at UFC 216. “Mighty Mouse” is currently tied with former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva as they both hold 10 consecutive title defenses each. However, Johnson is still the champion and has the possibility of racking up much more title defenses to add to his record, unlike Silva at this point.

Justin Golightly - October 6, 2017

Do you remember when you were in school and someone did so well on a test that the teacher graded everyone on a curve? That curve is Demetrious Johnson. Were you ever jealous of a sibling that overshadowed the B you were proud of, because they got a A+? That A+ is Demetrious Johnson. An incredible fighter like Joseph Benavidez gets overlooked because Johnson is just that good, but he’s only ever lost to two men: Dominick Cruz and the one and only UFC flyweight champion. Out of 11 years and 25 fights, only losing to those two fighters is an amazing accomplishment. Still, as a fighter, you want the belt. You want to defeat the best in the world. Benavidez came very close at UFC 152, and it’s something he still gets lost in thought about. “I was that close to finishing someone many consider the best ever [in the first fight]. It’s something that goes through my head all the time. Every little thing that I could have done different. I will randomly be driving and get upset. My wife will say ‘what’s the matter?’ and I will say ‘nothing.’ But sometimes I think about little things like that and if it could have gone another way. When I fought [Demetrious Johnson] the first time, you couldn’t predict the epic run that he would go on. But when you see him going through other opponents you think, ‘Wow, he tears these guys apart and makes them look normal.’ [His speed] is something you can’t adjust to. I tried to go with the fastest people I could leading up to the fights with him and you still can’t get as fast as him until you get there.”

Justin Golightly - October 5, 2017

This Saturday, Demetrious Johnson will (finally) step into the Octagon with Ray Borg to attempt a record-breaking victory. If he can get past Borg, he’ll have beaten Anderson Silva’s tally mark of consecutive title defenses, forever cementing him into UFC history. An aura surrounded Silva due to the way he fought and the things he was able to accomplish. It’s the tingles and upset stomach you get when you reach the final boss of a video game. …And you doubt. Then, you panic. Eventually, you are defeated. Demetrious Johnson may never be Anderson Silva to some people, but he’s developing his own energy. It was this energy that Chris Cariaso felt on the night of UFC 178 right before he hit the cage.  “I didn’t feel pressure until about five minutes before I walked out. I thought ‘oh my god, what did I get myself into.’ I remember walking out and hearing Joe Rogan say ‘Cariaso needs to fight the fight of his life!’ and I was like ,’Oh my god, what am I going to do?’ It was during the pre-fight when they were talking about it. They had it on in the back room and it was playing. And I was like ‘oh sh-t, here we go.’ I threw a kick and slipped. He came up on top. I remember him going for the Kimura earlier. I remember stuffing my hand and hiding it and then I saw an opening to escape again. That’s when he went right to it. He caught my arm and it was too late.”

Russell Ess - October 5, 2017

UFC 216 is set to take place this weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee are featured in the main event of the evening as they will fight for the UFC interim lightweight title. In the co-main event of the evening, there is a chance history will be made by the current number 1 UFC ranked pound-for-pound fighter, Demetrious Johnson. “Mighty Mouse” will look to defend his UFC flyweight title for the 11th time against Ray Borg. Johnson is currently tied with former middleweight champion Anderson Silva for most consecutive title defenses in UFC history at 10 a piece and Johnson will look to set the new record on Saturday night.

Tom Taylor - October 4, 2017

Originally, UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson was expected to attempt his potentially history-making 11th-straight title defense in the main event of UFC 215. Yet when his opponent, Ray Borg, was forced out of the fight at the last-minute with an injury, this flyweight title fight was rescheduled for UFC 216. Given that the original UFC 216 headliner, a fight between Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee, is for the interim lightweight title, many people expected Borg and Johnson’s legitimate title fight to usurp the top spot on the bill. Instead, however, Johnson and Borg were shoehorned into the co-main event, under the interim title fight on the bill.

Justin Golightly - October 3, 2017

Fight week for fighters is a special kind of hell. You’re so close to the fight that you’ve prepared months for, but it’s just out of reach. You’re doing media, cameras are always around you, and worst of all, you’re cutting weight. Some fighters cut an obscene amount of weight. Conor McGregor went through a completely tame MMA cut in comparison to his others for the Floyd Mayweather fight, and Mayweather was worried he wouldn’t even make it to the fight. One guy who never worries about his cut, is Demetrious Johnson. In fact, he basically eats whatever he wants. He detailed his diet sitting next to Kevin Lee, who was visibly tortured and munching on arugula. “I’ll stay at 125lbs. After this I probably won’t fight until March, maybe February or March possibly. We’ll see. I’ll stay at 125lbs. Last night I went out to dinner, had two chicken breasts with mashed potatoes, broccolini, it was seasoned, had all the good-goods on it. And I woke up weighing 138.1lbs. So, it’s not [a problem for me to make 125lbs]. the only time I get to like, 142-143lbs, is I have a rack of ribs with a delicious Negra Modelo. I eat whatever I want and still be able to make this weight. Yeah, I eat dessert and all this stuff. I had Oreos before I came down [to the media lunch]. I had chocolate ones because I ate through all the vanilla Oreos that day before.”