‘Mighty Mouse’ Demetrius Johnson (36, USA), who is active in the One Championship flyweight division, aimed at Mikey Musmechi (26, USA), one of the world’s best grapplers in the same weight class. Johnson said in an interview on the official website on the 19th, “I think I will play against Musmechi.” What Johnson wanted was a grappling match with Musmech.
One Championship creates matchups in a different way than the UFC. In addition to mixed martial arts, it operates kickboxing, muay thai, and submission grappling champion systems. Johnson became the One Championship Mixed Martial Arts Flyweight Champion in August 2022, and Musmechi became the One Championship Submission Grappling Flyweight Champion in October. From Johnson’s point of view, it is seen as greedy for the title of Musmechi rather than betting on his own title.
Johnson is considered one of the best fighters in the history of the flyweight division, as evidenced by his ability to compete at the top level even after his prime. He stood tall as the strongest ever in the mixed martial arts flyweight division with 12 consecutive victories before the UFC champion from 2012 to 2017. Despite the harsh criticism that he is “not the old Johnson,” his record is 24 wins, 4 losses and 1 draw. At his peak, in 2017, he even conceded only two losses.
Its greatest strength is that it can bring competitiveness no matter what direction it fights with a style that is equally good at striking and grappling. Out of 24 wins, 5 knockout wins (21%), 8 submission wins (33%), and 11 decision wins (46%) boast an even balance. There was only one knockout loss in the 4 losses, and the rest were games that were handed over by decision after a close fight. When he was raging in the UFC, he boasted a truly extreme force, and it was said that “the only way to bring Johnson down from the championship title is to retire.”
Johnson seems to be trying to make the most of his own, but the ground is the main area of the musmechi. He is one of the best jiu-jitero in existence, as evidenced by the gold medals at the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) World Championships in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021. Since he is in the prime of his career, he is inevitably greedy for his career, and in that respect, he is the best opponent for Johnson.
He is said to be an opponent past his prime, but only records remain in the future anyway. If he adds a win against a fighter that will go down in history, it could be a big brag. In some ways, it is highly likely that he took into account the merit of having a higher chance of winning because he is a veteran.
In the meantime, Musmechi has repeatedly requested a match against Johnson. After winning the championship match, he said, “I’ve always dreamed of a matchup with Johnson. If I had a matchup with the legend of mixed martial arts, there would be a lot more eyes to see than in a normal submission grappling match.” He expressed his desire to fight once.
It is true that if the matchup is successful, the odds will lean more towards Musmechi in terms of objective power. As mentioned earlier, Johnson is an all-round fighter who is good at standing and on the ground. Basically, it is quick on its feet and has good instantaneous movements, so it is possible to respond well to any type of opponent. In a standing match, he alternates between southpaw and orthodox stances, and is good at effective hits with irregular strikes.
Although he is short in stature, he is good at long-distance fighting by making good use of low kicks and front kicks. He is good at the cheek clinch, and his knee kick, which shakes the opponent’s center freely, is also powerful. Even in ground fights, he has shown good movements regardless of upper and lower positions. Going back and forth from various guard positions in the lower as well as the upper pressure, if there was a little gap, he immediately went into a submission attack.온라인바카라
Nevertheless, Musmatch is a difficult opponent to attack with pure grappling. The biggest reason why Johnson was strong was that he could evenly press opponents while standing and on the ground, and he fought endlessly in the mud with his stamina. However, if his blows are ruled out, it becomes considerably easier for Musmechi to unleash the game in his area. In addition, due to Johnson’s considerable age, it is difficult to tire opponents with physical strength as before.
Nonetheless, if Johnson accepts the match, it will be because he believes in his skill and crisis management ability. In addition, he may have judged that he had a good chance by watching the various patterns of Musmechi in the previous game. The last submission grappling flyweight title match was also a match in which challenger Gantumur Bayanduuren (26, Mongolia) received as much attention as champion Musmechi.
Even though Gantumur was caught in a dangerous submission attack, he did not surrender and endured for 12 minutes to the end, showing a fighting spirit that led to the judgment. Regarding that, Johnson praised Gantumur, saying, “Gantumur’s physical elasticity and recovery ability were amazing. Above all, the flexibility of his legs that endured the joint techniques used by a master of submission like Musmechi was amazing.”
In the past, Johnson also had a relationship with Musmechi to improve his ground skills. He hailed him as the ‘wizard of jiu-jitsu’, saying, “If you’re aiming for a joint and grabbing my leg, I’ll surrender right away. I have no intention of testing my flexibility against a dangerous opponent.” Of course, the match between the two has not yet been confirmed. It was not decided whether it would be a general rule or a grappling rule, let alone matchups. What is clear is that no matter how the matchup proceeds, various technical battles unique to the lightweight division will unfold, making the fans’ eyes happy.