SUMMARY
- Demetrious Johnson has held titles in both ONE Championship and UFC.
- Recently, "Mighty Mouse" opened up on his experience working for each company.
Between his stints in UFC and ONE Championship, MMA legend Demetrious Johnson has seen it all at the upper echelons of the sport. As of 2024, “Mighty Mouse” has been a professional fighter for 15 years and still reigns as the ONE Flyweight MMA World Champion after a glittering six-fight run with the martial arts giant.
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The American made the switch from UFC to ONE in a blockbuster trade for former ONE welterweight king Ben Askren in 2018 following a seven-year stint which yielded 12 UFC flyweight titles. As such, Johnson has a unique perspective from which to compare his employers, and he hasn’t been afraid to lay it all out.
Demetrious Johnson lifts the lid on life at ONE Championship
Demetrious Johnson has broken down the differences between ONE Championship and UFC when it comes to treatment of their World Champions. Johnson revealed on his recent “Mighty” podcast, which featured UFC athlete Renato Moicano.
“Being champion? I tell you what, the money’s better [at ONE]. Honestly, I think for me, when Dana White says, ‘Oh, you become a UFC champion, you become a partner,’ I don’t believe that’s true,” Johnson said.
“But, when I became a champion with ONE Championship, I feel like a partner. When I was going to fight Adriano (Moraes) the third time, they were like, ‘Hey, we want to do it in Colorado, what do you think?’ I was like, ‘I think it’s a great place, let’s make it happen.'”
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“I just feel that I have more say-so when I was a champion in ONE Championship than when I was in UFC. Like I was a UFC Champion, ‘Oh you get par-per-view points,’ my black a** was on UFC Fox 8 and 6 and 12 and 34. [No] pay-per-view points, right, and it’s always an argument.”
That said, Johnson remains undecided on his MMA future. The 37-year-old has been inactive since his most recent ONE Flyweight MMA World Title defense against arch-rival Adriano Moraes in May 2023.
He has, however, evolved as a martial artist by winning tournaments in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitions in recent months. He was also awarded his BJJ black belt by professors Bibiano Fernandes and Yan McCane last month.
