Demetrious Johnson News

Russell Ess - October 10, 2017

There are coaches for all aspects of mixed tiatial arts. You have head coaches that bring everything together and others that help on a specific discipline such as wrestling, striking, or jiu-jitsu. Then, for some athletes, they also hire a mental coach to help them through their mental blocks or issues that can hold back an athlete from their full potential. Georges St-Pierre and Vitor Belfort are examples of some of the biggest stars in mixed martial arts that have worked with a mental coach during their careers. Now, with the sport being highlighted by promotional beasts such as Conor McGregor, could fighters use a promotional coach to hype themselves up and build more fan interest?

Russell Ess - October 10, 2017

I couldn’t even believe this as I was watching it. #Repost @lovatojrbjj ・・・ This is getting posted everywhere, but it’s too beautiful for me not to share as well! Congrats @mightymouse125 for making history & thank you for displaying so much incredible technique in all of your fights! #demetriousjohnson #UFC #JiuJitsu #MMA A post shared by Joe Rogan (@joerogan) on Oct 8, 2017 at 10:21am PDT

Chris Taylor - October 8, 2017

UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson made history at last night’s UFC 216 event in Las Vegas! “Mighty Mouse” recorded his eleventh consecutive title defense by scoring a dramatic fifth-round submission victory over Ray Borg in the co-main event of UFC 216.

Tom Taylor - October 8, 2017

Last night, in the co-main event of UFC 216, UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson shattered the record for consecutive title defenses in the UFC, moving to eleven-straight with a jaw-dropping fifth-round armbar over Ray Borg. In the wake of this dazzling win, Johnson is once again being widely referred to as the greatest of all time. At the UFC 216 post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White gave his take on the GOAT debate.

Justin Golightly - October 7, 2017

Demetrious Johnson is now hours away from his attempt to break Anderson Silva’s title defense record, forever cementing him in UFC and MMA history. Even before Johnson reached this peak in his career, fans and media alike have purposed the idea he move up in weight to create new challenges. He was even in talks to fight TJ Dillashaw, before deciding to continue on his at flyweight. The last time Johnson fought in a bigger weight division was coincidentally the last time he lost. It was against former bantamweight king Dominick Cruz. While Cruz has been praised for his own mind for the sport, he returns the favor when it comes to Johnson.  “When I look at [Demetrious Johnson] since we fought, the place he’s made the most leaps and bounds was in his mind. I think DJ had a lot of early-on doubts about how good he was or could be. As he dropped to this division, where he felt he was at his actual weight class, you saw his confidence change. You saw his words change, the way he promoted the fight change. Everything about him kind of changed. That’s just confidence. That’s just knowing he’s the champion and knowing he’s the best in the world at 135 pounds as well. It just changed his mindset.”

Russell Ess - October 6, 2017

UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson (26-2-1)  has the chance to set the record for the most consecutive UFC title defenses on Saturday night at UFC 216. “Mighty Mouse” is currently tied with former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva as they both hold 10 consecutive title defenses each. However, Johnson is still the champion and has the possibility of racking up much more title defenses to add to his record, unlike Silva at this point.

Justin Golightly - October 6, 2017

Do you remember when you were in school and someone did so well on a test that the teacher graded everyone on a curve? That curve is Demetrious Johnson. Were you ever jealous of a sibling that overshadowed the B you were proud of, because they got a A+? That A+ is Demetrious Johnson. An incredible fighter like Joseph Benavidez gets overlooked because Johnson is just that good, but he’s only ever lost to two men: Dominick Cruz and the one and only UFC flyweight champion. Out of 11 years and 25 fights, only losing to those two fighters is an amazing accomplishment. Still, as a fighter, you want the belt. You want to defeat the best in the world. Benavidez came very close at UFC 152, and it’s something he still gets lost in thought about. “I was that close to finishing someone many consider the best ever [in the first fight]. It’s something that goes through my head all the time. Every little thing that I could have done different. I will randomly be driving and get upset. My wife will say ‘what’s the matter?’ and I will say ‘nothing.’ But sometimes I think about little things like that and if it could have gone another way. When I fought [Demetrious Johnson] the first time, you couldn’t predict the epic run that he would go on. But when you see him going through other opponents you think, ‘Wow, he tears these guys apart and makes them look normal.’ [His speed] is something you can’t adjust to. I tried to go with the fastest people I could leading up to the fights with him and you still can’t get as fast as him until you get there.”

Justin Golightly - October 5, 2017

This Saturday, Demetrious Johnson will (finally) step into the Octagon with Ray Borg to attempt a record-breaking victory. If he can get past Borg, he’ll have beaten Anderson Silva’s tally mark of consecutive title defenses, forever cementing him into UFC history. An aura surrounded Silva due to the way he fought and the things he was able to accomplish. It’s the tingles and upset stomach you get when you reach the final boss of a video game. …And you doubt. Then, you panic. Eventually, you are defeated. Demetrious Johnson may never be Anderson Silva to some people, but he’s developing his own energy. It was this energy that Chris Cariaso felt on the night of UFC 178 right before he hit the cage.  “I didn’t feel pressure until about five minutes before I walked out. I thought ‘oh my god, what did I get myself into.’ I remember walking out and hearing Joe Rogan say ‘Cariaso needs to fight the fight of his life!’ and I was like ,’Oh my god, what am I going to do?’ It was during the pre-fight when they were talking about it. They had it on in the back room and it was playing. And I was like ‘oh sh-t, here we go.’ I threw a kick and slipped. He came up on top. I remember him going for the Kimura earlier. I remember stuffing my hand and hiding it and then I saw an opening to escape again. That’s when he went right to it. He caught my arm and it was too late.”

Tom Taylor - October 5, 2017

This weekend, in the co-main event of UFC 216, UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson will attempt to defend his title against Ray Borg. If Johnson is successful, it’ll mark his 11th consecutive title defense – the all-time record in the UFC. Despite the fact that Johnson is just days removed from potentially establishing himself as the most dominant champion in UFC history, he’s not really paid as such. Luckily, Johnson has worked out a new deal that means he will finally be getting pay-per-view points – a luxury afforded to most other champions – for this UFC 216 bout with Borg.

Tom Taylor - October 4, 2017

Originally, UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson was expected to attempt his potentially history-making 11th-straight title defense in the main event of UFC 215. Yet when his opponent, Ray Borg, was forced out of the fight at the last-minute with an injury, this flyweight title fight was rescheduled for UFC 216. Given that the original UFC 216 headliner, a fight between Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee, is for the interim lightweight title, many people expected Borg and Johnson’s legitimate title fight to usurp the top spot on the bill. Instead, however, Johnson and Borg were shoehorned into the co-main event, under the interim title fight on the bill.

Justin Golightly - October 3, 2017

Fight week for fighters is a special kind of hell. You’re so close to the fight that you’ve prepared months for, but it’s just out of reach. You’re doing media, cameras are always around you, and worst of all, you’re cutting weight. Some fighters cut an obscene amount of weight. Conor McGregor went through a completely tame MMA cut in comparison to his others for the Floyd Mayweather fight, and Mayweather was worried he wouldn’t even make it to the fight. One guy who never worries about his cut, is Demetrious Johnson. In fact, he basically eats whatever he wants. He detailed his diet sitting next to Kevin Lee, who was visibly tortured and munching on arugula. “I’ll stay at 125lbs. After this I probably won’t fight until March, maybe February or March possibly. We’ll see. I’ll stay at 125lbs. Last night I went out to dinner, had two chicken breasts with mashed potatoes, broccolini, it was seasoned, had all the good-goods on it. And I woke up weighing 138.1lbs. So, it’s not [a problem for me to make 125lbs]. the only time I get to like, 142-143lbs, is I have a rack of ribs with a delicious Negra Modelo. I eat whatever I want and still be able to make this weight. Yeah, I eat dessert and all this stuff. I had Oreos before I came down [to the media lunch]. I had chocolate ones because I ate through all the vanilla Oreos that day before.”

Tom Taylor - October 3, 2017

This Saturday, in the co-main event of the star-studded UFC 216, UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson will attempt to make a record-breaking 11th-straight defense of his title opposite Ray Borg. If Demetrious Johnson achieves this history-making 11th title defense, it will of course be very exciting. It will, however, also raise a very interesting question: who the hell does he fight next? Having essentially cleaned out his division, Johnson is now running very low on viable title challengers. Luckily, he’s got a few ideas for possible options down the line.

Tom Taylor - September 28, 2017

On November 4, in the co-main event of the stacked UFC 217, UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt will attempt to defend his title against his most heated rival in TJ Dillashaw. If Garbrandt successfully defends his title, the expectation is that he’ll then turn his attention to the next contender on the docket – perhaps the winner of Jimmie Rivera and Dominic Cruz’s UFC 219 scrap. Apparently, however, Garbrandt’s team is still eying a drop to flyweight for a battle with dominant UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. Garbrandt’s head coach Justin Buchholz shared the plan on Five Rounds podcast.

Tom Taylor - September 13, 2017

If things had gone according to plan, UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson would have attempted his eleventh-straight title defense opposite Ray Borg in the main event of UFC 215 last weekend. Regrettably, Borg was forced out of this contest at the last minute, leaving the champ without a fight. Luckily, Johnson and Borg are being rescheduled for UFC 216, which goes down on October 7 in Las Vegas. While this is currently the plan, however, Johnson isn’t sure he can trust Borg – who has made several last minute withdrawals from fights in the past – to show up for battle.

Tom Taylor - September 12, 2017

If things had gone according to plan, dominant UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson would have taken on Ray Borg in the main event of UFC 215 this weekend. Regrettably, Borg was forced out of the fight with an illness at the very last minute, leaving Johnson without an opponent – and apparently, without a payday. On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, the flyweight champ explained that he has still not been paid by the UFC – despite the fact that he was prepared to show up for the fight, and the bout’s cancellation really had nothing to do with him. Luckily, it sounds as though his bout with Borg will be rescheduled for UFC 216 in October, however.

Russell Ess - September 11, 2017

The UFC 215 main event featuring Demetrious Johnson and Ray Borg was canceled just a few days before the fight date, which took place over the weekend in Edmonton, Canada. The announcement that Borg was pulled from the fight came on Thursday with doctors ruling the UFC flyweight title challenger unfit to compete due to an illness. With Borg given no choice but to have to pull out from the fight, many assumed that the fighter was having complications with making weight. However, with the UFC releasing a statement claiming an illness was the issue and doctors not clearing Borg to fight, it seems a choice to fight was completely out of Borg’s discretion.

Russell Ess - September 8, 2017

The MMA community was struck with appalling news late Thursday. With less than 24 hours away from the UFC 215 weigh-ins, the main event UFC flyweight title fight between Demetrious Johnson and Ray Borg was canceled. The cancellation, first reported by Ariel Helwani for MMA Fighting, was due to Borg being ill and deemed unfit to compete by medical doctors.

Russell Ess - September 7, 2017

The UFC 215 main event featuring Demetrious Johnson and Ray Borg has been canceled just days before the event is set to take place in Edmonton, Canada. Late Thursday, Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting reported that Borg was forced out of the UFC flyweight title fight against Johnson due to illness. According to the report, Borg was fighting the illness this week and doctors deemed the UFC title challenger unfit to compete.