Demetrious Johnson Vents Frustrations Over Title Fight Uncertainty
Demetrious Johnson seems doubtful concerning his upcoming title fight against Adriano Moraes at ONE: Infinity 1, scheduled for the 29th of May. ‘Mighty Mouse’ is set to challenge ‘Mikinho’ for the ONE flyweight world title, having earned the title shot by winning the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix in 2019.
Speaking with the South China Morning Post however, ‘DJ explained his concerns for his title bout, with the current coronavirus pandemic situation.
“Do I think it’s going to happen? No, I don’t. I don’t even know if I can book a ticket to Singapore right now to get acclimated to the timezone…Singapore keeps getting more cases. I have no idea what Manila’s cases are looking like. Florida just opened their beaches up – people are out there partying on the beaches. So I have no idea what the hell’s going on.”
Adding to the logistical difficulty of pulling off a card in the middle of a pandemic, is the question of training and quality of fighter preparation.
“All the gyms in Washington state are closed, so to be honest there is no training,” Johnson wryly observed. “All I’m doing is getting my heart rate up three times a week, doing lots of push-ups and pull-ups, and that’s it. I haven’t done any mixed martial arts training in probably … five weeks.”
But this is not to suggest that Johnson is taking Moraes lightly.
“I think he’s a great athlete,” Johnson said of his potential opponent, “I think he’s a great champion. He’s very big, very long, and he’s a great grappler. He wants to get on your back. He loves to be on your back and he wrestles a lot.”
Adding the ONE flyweight title to his already impressive accolades, will leave no doubt that Johnson’s name will go down in history as one of the greatest mixed martial artists we’ve ever seen, once he retires from the sport. Not that the 33 year old has any intentions of hanging up his gloves anytime soon.
“I think about [retirement]. If I didn’t think about that at this stage of my career, I’d be f***ing foolish. I’m always thinking about what I’m going to do after fighting. For me, I give myself four or five more years, and right now I’m just focused on competing, building my brand, and setting myself up for after mixed martial arts. That way I don’t have to apply at Target or Costco.”
Fight fans the world over are anxious to see the matchup given that it provides another litmus test for UFC fighters entering into ONE Championship. Of relevance here is Timofey Nastyukhin’s stoppage of former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, at ONE: A New Era a little over one year ago.
In any event, Johnson enjoys the prospect of fighting again and returning as far as possible to normal.
“It’s going to feel good [to fight again],” Johnson noted. “It’s just going to be good to get life back to normal, to get the kids back to seeing their friends, to be able to see my teammates, my friends, my coach. That’s what I’m looking forward to.”
When we finally see Demetrious Johnson and Adriano Moraes face off, who do you think will leave the ONE Circle as the ONE flyweight champion?
See also: