Demetrious Johnson has maintained his position as the dominant fighter in mixed martial arts for a considerable amount of time. And after successfully defending his flyweight belt against Adriano Moraes at ONE Fight Night 10, the now-14-time MMA world champion unquestionably deserves to be considered in a league of his own.
Chatri Sityodtong, Chairman and CEO of ONE Championship, holds the same view on the matter, particularly in regard to the fact that the title of “MMA GOAT” is frequently applied to a number of different competitors in the sport.
Because of his bravery and his ability to remain at the top of his game for an extended period of time, Sityodtong believes that Johnson deserves the title of GOAT.
The fact that the AMC Pankration and Evolve MMA athlete has defeated a wide variety of competitors during his reign is another reason why the lifelong martial artist considers the American athlete to be the genuine GOAT of the sport, in the opinion of the martial artist who has trained for their entire lives.
A good example of this is “Mighty Mouse,” who won his first mixed martial arts world title in the year 2012. It was more than a decade since he had been in the discipline as a world champion when ONE had its on-ground presentation in North America a month ago. He has been a world champion for the most part.
During the post-fight press conference for ONE Fight Night 10, Chatri Sityodtong made the following statement:
Not to sound like some random businessman, but I’ve been training in martial arts for the better part of my life. My whole life, I’ve been training in various forms of martial arts. In that light, I will evaluate it. There are other individuals who have also accomplished a great deal in the sport, but they just have one dimension to their personality. They still have room for improvement.”
He added:
“Whereas with DJ, you truly, if you talk amongst the martial arts community and the martial artists, a greater number of people would say that he is the GOAT [than others].” If you talk to the casual customers, the ones who are easily swayed by marketing and rhetoric, you’ll find that these are two separate things.
Following a successful run in the North American region, “Mighty Mouse” made his debut with ONE Championship by submitting Yuya Wakamatsu in the second round of their quarterfinal bout in the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix.
In the semifinal, Johnson won a majority decision over the challenging Tatsumitsu Wada. Then, in the championship match, Johnson prevailed against Danny Kingad and took home the renowned silver strap.
Since that time, ‘Mighty Mouse’ has been engaged in a series of three fights versus Moraes. The 36-year-old competitor, who had previously been defeated by the reigning monarch in their first encounter, brought the score to 2-1 in their favor.
Replays of the fight between Demetrious Johnson and Moraes, which took place at ONE Fight Night 10 and are now available for fans in North America to watch on Amazon Prime Video.