Demetrious Johnson News

Tom Taylor - October 28, 2018

Former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson is now a ONE Championship fighter. That’s thanks to a historic and unprecedented trade between ONE and the UFC, which saw Johnson shipped to the Singapore-based promotion, and former ONE welterweight champ Ben Askren sent stateside to the UFC. Ever since news of this trade was announced, Ben Askren has engaged in verbal warfare with many of the UFC’s top welterweights. And while ONE Championship encourages its fighters to steer clear of this kind of trash talking, one ONE Championship star has done his part to lock down a fight with the former UFC champ Demetrious Johnson: former ONE flyweight champ Kairat Akhmetov.

Chris Taylor - October 27, 2018

It is officially a done deal! Former ONE Champion and Bellator welterweight title holder Ben Askren has joined the UFC roster. A historic trade involving ONE Championship sending Ben Askren to the UFC in exchange for former flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson was confirmed by ESPN’s Ariel Helwani.

Chris Taylor - October 26, 2018

Ben Askren is currently in the process of being traded from ONE Championship to the UFC in exchange for former flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson. The historic trade, which is expected to be finalized very soon, could have a significant impact on the sport and its athletes moving forward.

Tom Taylor - October 26, 2018

If former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson does indeed migrate to ONE Championship as expected, he’ll receive a warm welcome from two familiar faces. His long-time head coach Matt Hume is ONE Championship’s Vice President of Operations, while Bibiano Fernandes, arguably the most crucial training partner of his illustrious career, is the promotion’s reigning bantamweight champion. Bibiano Fernandes, who has become one of ONE Championship’s biggest stars, believes that Demetrious Johnson would be a perfect fit for the promotion. ONE, Fernandes reminds, places far more value on performances than it does on things like trash talk and showmanship.

Thomas Taylor - October 24, 2018

Earlier this month, we learned that former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez had signed with Singapore-based MMA promotion ONE Championship. Alvarez was instantly hailed as the biggest free agent signing in ONE Championship history — and from the sounds of it, he could soon be joined by another massive name: former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson. On Wednesday afternoon, ESPN reported that the UFC and ONE Championship were close to finalizing an unprecedented fighter trade. This trade would see the UFC send Johnson, widely regarded as the best fighter of all time, to ONE Championship, and ONE Championship offer up its former welterweight champion in return.

Tom Taylor - October 24, 2018

On Wednesday afternoon, ESPN reported that the UFC and Singapore’s ONE Championship are closing in on a history-making fighter trade. This potential trade, which is still not official, would see ONE Championship send its former welterweight champion Ben Askren to the UFC, and the UFC send its former flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson to the Singapore-based promotion. If this trade comes to fruition, the ramifications would be massive and far-reaching. It could conceivably usher in an unprecedented era of fighter trades — not just the kind of -talent-sharing that Bellator has done with Rizin and BAMMA, but legitimate promotion-to-promotion trading. This trade could also signal the end of the long-struggling UFC men’s flyweight division, as it’s hard to believe the UFC would part ways with Johnson — still widely considered the division’s best fighter — if it had any intention of keeping the division around.

Tom Taylor - October 24, 2018

ONE Championship and the UFC are close to finalizing a history-making fighter trade, per ESPN. This potential trade would see the UFC send former flyweight champion and pound-for-pound great Demetrious Johnson to the Singapore-based promotion in exchange for former ONE and Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren. While this trade is reportedly on the table, it is not official yet.

Drake Riggs - August 28, 2018

Despite having come up short in his most recent attempted title defense, there is no question that Demetrious Johnson is one of the all-time greats. Even in his rematch with Henry Cejudo at UFC 227, it wasn’t as if the mighty one was blown out of the water in his split decision loss.

Thomas Taylor - August 11, 2018

Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson is no longer the UFC flyweight champion. That honor now belongs to Henry Cejudo, who swiped the belt from Johnson with a hard-fought unanimous decision at UFC 227 earlier this month. Given that Johnson had defended the title 11 consecutive times before losing it, and that he knocked Cejudo out in their first fight just two years ago, the widespread feeling is that the former champion should get an immediate opportunity to reclaim the title.

Jordy McElroy - August 6, 2018

For the first time in UFC history, a name other than Demetrious Johnson will be attached to the flyweight title. Henry Cejudo, the former Olympic gold medalist wrestler, did something historic at UFC 227 in dethroning the pound-for-pound king. Yet when the smoke cleared, all anyone could talk about was what’s next for Cejudo rather than what’s to become of Johnson. An iconic feat came crashing back down to Earth in the form of Johnson’s 11 consecutive title defenses, and it was about as emotional as someone losing a balloon in the air.

Tom Taylor - August 5, 2018

Last night, in the co-main event of UFC 227, one of MMA’s most legendary title reigns came to a shocking halt, as UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson lost a razor-close decision to Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo. While some former champions have a difficult time accepting defeat and returning to the contendership race, Johnson has been nothing but classy in the hours since he lost his title.

Tom Taylor - August 5, 2018

Last night, Demetrious Johnson’s record-breaking reign as UFC flyweight champion came to an end, as he lost a hotly debated split decision to former Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo. Post-fight, Johnson attended a brief press conference to address the media.

Chris Taylor - August 4, 2018

A flyweight title fight rematch featuring long time division champion Demetrious Johnson taking on former title challenger Henry Cejudo served as the co-headliner of tonight’s UFC 227 event in Los Angeles. “Mighty Mouse” entered tonight’s contest on a twelve fight win streak, his latest being a sensational armbar submission victory over Ray Borg at UFC 216.

Drake Riggs - August 1, 2018

https://twitter.com/aaronbronsteter/status/1024852848561946624?s=19 “I want to fight all the guys in my division. We got new guys comin’ up, Sergio Pettis looked good his last fight, ya got [Jose] ‘Shorty’ Torres…he’s in here now. Shoot, Kyoji Horiguchi’s in RIZIN tearin’ things up. So there’s lots of guys out there but for me, I’m just sort of going one fight at a time.

Tom Taylor - August 1, 2018

For a time, it looked as though Demetrious Johnson’s next flyweight title challenger would come in the form of a slimmed down bantamweight champion, TJ Dillashaw. Unfortunately, the UFC couldn’t lock this fight down. Dillashaw was booked to defend his title against Cody Garbrandt, and Johnson was booked to defend his title against Henry Cejudo — both at UFC 227 this weekend. While this Johnson vs. Dillashaw fight didn’t work out on the first try, Johnson says it’s an opportunity he’s still up for — so long as the UFC makes it worth his while.

Drake Riggs - June 15, 2018

One of the most highly anticipated super fights of the current era is UFC flyweight king, Demetrious Johnson vs bantamweight champ, TJ Dillashaw. Or for some, it’s really just Johnson against any top-ranked 135er. ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson has done essentially everything one could dream of as a UFC champion. He has broken the consecutive title defense record, taken little to no damage doing it and pulled off some insanely flashy moves in the process.

Tom Taylor - May 17, 2018

Now that his much discussed superfight with bantamweight champ TJ Dillashaw is off the table, Demetrious Johnson’s next fight is expected to be a rematch with former opponent Henry Cejudo, who defeated by first-round TKO in 2016. That said, this rematch is far from set in stone. On Wednesday afternoon, Cejudo took to Twitter in an effort to expedite negotiations for his second crack at the flyweight champ “Mighty Mouse.” He did so by criticizing the champ for his failure to draw significant audiences in previous outings, and for his well-known interest in video games.

Drake Riggs - May 16, 2018

Top UFC flyweight contender, Henry Cejudo doesn’t seem so happy. After roasting the champion, Demetrious Johnson earlier today on Twitter, Cejudo continued to detail the recent situation involving him and the champion and even dropped some news of potential future plans for the flyweight division.