Demetrious Johnson reveals that he hasn’t done any MMA training in 18 months: “It’s not on my mind right now”
Current ONE Championship flyweight titleholder Demetrious Johnson is keeping the door open on an MMA return.
‘Mighty Mouse’ hasn’t competed in well over a year. The former UFC champion famously headed to ONE Championship in late 2018 and quickly compiled a three-fight winning streak. While Demetrious Johnson suffered a knockout loss to Adriano Moraes in April 2021, he avenged the loss the following year.
In his trilogy bout with the Brazilian, he again outworked ‘Mikinho’ en route to a unanimous decision victory. Prior to ONE Fight Night 10, Demetrious Johnson admitted that the fight might be his last. In the year since then, the 38-year-old has shown interest in various matchups. However, he’s failed to book his return to the cage.
In fact, Demetrious Johnson hasn’t done a lot of actual MMA training since that night last April. Appearing on the JAXXON Podcast earlier this week, the flyweight champion was asked about retirement. There, Johnson stated that he was keeping the door open regarding more appearance in the cage.
Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson says he’s not officially retired from MMA but he’s keeping the door open.
MMA is not on his mind right now and he’s been focus on his BJJ training.
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ONE Championship star Demetrious Johnson gives retirement update
However, Demetrious Johnson added that he’s not actively training right now. While ‘Mighty Mouse’ has stayed active in the gym, and done some rolling, he hasn’t hit the pads in 18 months. Still, Johnson believes that he could have one more fight if the right opportunity arose.
“I think that once I officially retire, because I will always leave that door open.” Demetrious Johnson stated in the interview. “Just like you left that door open right? You will always have that love for mixed martial arts. I’m just saying, mixed martial arts isn’t on my mind right now. But if something came through and ‘Hey man you want to do this fight?’, yeah sure why not?”
He continued, “I still train every day, my weight is still there, but I don’t train MMA. I train martial arts. But, it’s just jiu-jitsu. I haven’t hit pads, that’s the first time that I’ve hit pads in a year and a half. Yeah, I still have it. But I mean, I feel like people think that if you don’t train martial arts, you still can’t do it. It might not be at the highest level [right now], but I can get back to the highest level.”
What do you make of these comments from the ONE Championship star? Do you want to see Demetrious Johnson fight again?
