Date of birth: 08/13/1986
Height:160cm
Weight:57 kg
Demetrius Johnson - famous American fighter, participating in mixed martial arts fights. He participated in many MMA fights, becoming the UFC champion, competing in the flyweight division. He ranks third in the ranking of the corresponding weight category within the UFC.
Biography of Demetrius Johnson
The outstanding athlete was born in Kentucky, USA on August 13, 1986. Demetrius was a student at Parkland's Washington High School, where he wrestled. He took part in state sports championships.
His career in professional sports Demetrius started in 2007, when in his debut fight he knocked out his opponent in the first round. He also participated in several other local tournaments and won eight fights in a row. Then he received an invitation from the WEC, and had his debut fight in April 2010. His opponent was Brad Pickett, although Johnson showed excellent kickboxing, but by unanimous decision of the judges he lost this fight.
Large selection in the online store Land of Warriors.
Already in September of the same year, he had the opportunity to rehabilitate himself and measure his strength with Clint Godfrey as part of the WEC 51 tournament. But Godfrey was forced to abandon the fight and his place was taken by Nick Pace, whom Johnson easily won. Even through the WEC, he was able to defeat Damasio Page. The fight lasted until the third round, and in the first round Page was clearly superior to Johnson, but having gathered his strength into a fist, the American fighter seized the initiative and defeated his opponent in the third round. After this victory, Demetrius signs a contract with the famous American organization UFC. After signing the contract, Johnson has a series of fights with famous fighters, such as:
- Norifumi Yamamoto;
- Miguel Torres;
- Dominick Cruz;
- Eddie Vinland;
- Ian McCall.
Fights with these fighters led Johnson to the final, where he faced Joseph Benavidez on September 22, 2012. Johnson won the fight on points and became the lightweight champion.
After taking the championship belt, the American fighter faced off in the ring with John Dodson. The fight was not easy, and Johnson almost lost it, but ultimately the judges awarded him the victory.
Johnson's fights with John Moraga were quite interesting. The first fight took place on April 13, 2013, but the fight was not completed and was rescheduled for July 27, 2013. The fight lasted five rounds, and Moraga dominated throughout all rounds; at the end of the fight, Johnson was able to snatch victory and defended his champion title for the second time. For the third time, Demetrius defended the championship title, defeating Joseph Benavidez. In June 2014, he defended his championship by defeating Ali Bagautinov. And finally, in a fight with Chris Cariaso, he became a five-time UFC lightweight champion.
Personal life
Demetrius Johnson had quite the difficult childhood, he lived with his mother and stepfather, who did not show much love for the unborn child. He never saw his own father. He considers his wife to be the brightest person in his life, and claims that without her his life would not be complete. On May 11, 2012, the couple officially registered their relationship, and already in July 2013 they had a child.
If you want to find other MMA fighters, then by clicking on the link, you can find information on the athlete you are interested in.
If Demetrious Johnson wins tonight, he will extend his impressive streak of consecutive defenses and be sure to break a couple more records. Which of them may once again fall under the onslaught of the best “flyman” in history? In our opinion, the evening before the fight is the best opportunity to answer this question.
General statistics
According to the official UFC website, on at the moment Demetrius Johnson is best fighter promotion regardless of weight categories.
He is one of only 5 fighters in UFC history to achieve a 10-fight winning streak. The Mighty Mouse is accompanied by Royce Gracie (11), Georges St. Pierre (12), Jon Jones (13) and Anderson Silva (16).
Johnson's current 10-fight winning streak is the longest in UFC flyweight history. Ten wins is generally the best result in the history of the 125-pound category.
Five early victories, which Demetrius won in the flyweight division - the best result in the history of this weight.
The six fight bonuses Johnson earned while competing in the flyweight division are also a record for that category.
Champion statistics
At the time of the Elliott fight, Johnson's flyweight reign will have lasted 1,533 days. This is the 4th most in UFC history behind Jose Aldo (1848), Georges St-Pierre (2064) and Anderson Silva (2457).
Demetrius has made eight consecutive successful title defenses, the most among current champions in the promotion. In the entire history of the UFC, there have only been two longer streaks like this. They belong to St. Pierre (9) and Silva (10).
. “Mighty Mouse” won 5 early victories in title fights. During fights for the belt, only Anderson Silva and Matt Hughes finished more often than their rivals; they each have 9 such victories.
Demetrious Johnson is the only fighter in UFC history to win title fight using the kimura technique (also known as the shoulder knot). The submission victory came at UFC 178, and the victim was Chris Carasio.
While competing in mixed martial arts, Demetrius never lost by knockout or submission.
The 1,164 significant strikes he landed while fighting in the flyweight division is a division record.
While competing in flyweight, Johnson scored 43 takedowns, which is a division record.
He is the only one in history UFC fighter, who managed to carry out 10 or more transfers to the ground in three different fights of the organization.
Demetrius submitted Kyochi Horiguchi at 4 minutes 59 seconds into the 5th round of their fight. This is the latest stoppage in UFC history.
- current UFC flyweight champion, the leader of the pound-for-pound rating, and today the most stable fighter in the promotion. An incredibly smart and versatile athlete, he can fight both standing and on the ground. Different high speed, good endurance and excellent technique. Adapts very well to each opponent.
Biography of Demetrius Johnson
Demetrius Johnson was born on August 13, 1986 in Madisonville, Kentucky, but grew up in Parkland, Washington. His father died two months before Demetrius was born, so he was raised by his deaf mother, Keiren Johnson, and his stepfather, who abused his adopted son. Johnson himself claims that as a child it was very difficult for him to live in such conditions. He developed an interest in sports during his school years - Demetrius was involved in track running, cross-country running, and wrestling. He always placed high in competitions, even competing in running at the Washington state level a couple of times.
Demetrius Johnson in high school (far left)After school, Johnson got a job as a laborer at a woodworking factory, but did not give up sports. While working 40 hours a week, he managed to train approximately 10 hours a week. Around that time, he began to get involved in mixed martial arts, but at the same time he was engaged in gym, as well as CrossFit. Up until his victory over Miguel Torres at UFC 130, Demetrius combined training with work at the factory. Johnson's coaches say the athlete's success came in part due to his incredible physique and ability to pick things up on the fly. In that fight, he avoided several attempts at painful techniques purely intuitively, without particularly training his defense against these techniques in the gym.
In those days, Demetrius had to combine training not only with work, he also helped his mother, who was diagnosed with bone cancer. A typical day for the future champion looked something like this: early rise, going to work, then Johnson visited his mother, took her to the hospital, if necessary, took her back, returned to work, then, in the evening, went to train, and only then returned home.
Johnson is very strong emotionally: despite everything he has experienced, he is an incredibly positive, cheerful and cheerful guy. Relatives say that they would never have thought that he went through such serious trials if they had not learned it from him himself.
A year and a half after his UFC debut, Johnson defeated Joseph Benavidez by split decision to become the promotion's first flyweight champion. In 6 years, he lost only to Dominick Cruz, this was even before the introduction of flyweight. He has already made ten successful defenses, equaling the legendary Anderson Silva in this indicator. It seems that no one and nothing can remove the mouse from the throne. Recently, an entire season of the Ultimate Fighter show was dedicated to finding a worthy opponent for Demetrius - champions of local promotions were gathered in order to identify the best and give the lucky winner a title fight immediately after the end of the reality. However, Johnson passed the next test without any problems and retained the belt, and six months later, at UFC on FOX 24, he defeated Wilson Reis, coming close to setting an absolute UFC record for the number of successful defenses of the champion belt.
Demetrius Johnson deservedly leads the pound-for-pound rankings. When watching his fights, you get the feeling that he is an ideal fighter with no weaknesses, he is excellent, fast and accurate in the stance, moves well, controls the distance, hits with both hands and feet, if desired, enters the clinch and works with his knees, takes the opponent into the ground and beats him there, or performs a painful or suffocating technique.
Despite his excellent fighting qualities in the octagon, and his human qualities outside of it, the promotion does not seek to promote its hard-working champion, and unfortunately, tournaments with Johnson’s participation have almost the lowest ratings of all UFC events. However, Mighty Mouse himself actively works with his fans, in addition to constant activity on social networks, he runs his own Twitch channel, because, in his own words, he really loves video games and communicating with his fan base.
Personal life of Demetrius Johnson
Demetrius Johnson is married to Destiny Johnson (nee Bartels). She also grew up in Washington. The couple met in high school when they both worked part-time at Red Lobster. The champion has said more than once that his wife is the best thing that happened to him in his entire life. She was with him from the very beginning, since then, when no one believed in him, she always supported him and was understanding of the fact that training took up a considerable part of his time. They got married on May 11, 2012 in Hawaii. Destiny even agreed to postpone her honeymoon to give her husband the opportunity to have a full training camp for the fight with Ian.
The Johnsons have two sons - Tyreen was born on July 19, 2013, and Maverick was born on 15
April 2015. It's funny that in both cases Demetrius defended his belt 8 and 10 days after the birth of his sons. Destiny tries to help her husband in everything - she once even mentioned that she advised the champion not to let people from his old job into his life, who never loved Demetrius, but decided to establish a connection with him after he became a champion. Demetrius himself claims that the only thing that allowed him to get out of his past life and become happy was the love and support of his wonderful wife.
Last weekend, UFC flyweight champion Demetrius Johnson defeated Wilson Reisas by submission in the third round to successfully defend his title for the tenth time. Therefore, his indicator was equal to Anderson Silva. If Johnson wins his next fight, he will become a record holder.
At the moment, “Mighty Mouse” (Johnson’s nickname - editor’s note) ranks first in the ranking of the best fighters in the world, regardless of weight categories.
« Soviet sport“I decided to remember the milestones of Demetrius Johnson’s career: from the first fight at the AXFC tournament to the victorious one at UFC on Fox 24.
Childhood
Johnson was born on August 13, 1986 in Madisonville (Kentucky, USA). When he was in school, he was actively involved in athletics and wrestling. As a youth, he managed to take prizes in the US wrestling championships.
Starting a career in MMA
Johnson fought his first MMA fight at the GF tournament in 2006. It was an amateur fight and Demetrius defeated Oren Ullrich by technical knockout in the first round. In 2009, Johnson fought another amateur fight. In the third round, our hero defeated Loop Hudgens at the ROTR tournament by submission.
IN professional MMA Johnson made his debut on April 28, 2007 in a fight against fellow debutant Brandon Feeds. The fight took place as part of the AXFC 16 tournament and ended with Demetrius winning by knockout at 17 seconds of the first round.
In the next nine fights, Johnson also celebrated victories, seven of them ahead of schedule.
On April 24, 2010, “Mighty Mouse” took part in the WEC48 tournament, in the main battle which Aldo fought against Fiber. Johnson's opponent was Brad Pickett, who was an outsider. However, Johnson suffered a surprise defeat by unanimous decision. But despite the failure, it was at that tournament that he attracted the attention of UFC scouts, who had been monitoring Demetrius’ results throughout the year.
Signing a contract with the UFC
After the first defeat in his career and before signing a contract with the UFC, Johnson managed to win two more victories: over Nick Pace and Damachio Page.
On February 5, 2011, Demetrius entered the octagon of the world’s strongest league for the first time and defeated Japanese Norifumi Yamamoto by unanimous decision. Already in May, Johnson received a second fight. His opponent was Miguel Torres, with whom Johnson fought all three rounds and emerged victorious.
On October 1 of the same year, Johnson suffered his first and last defeat in the UFC. He got the chance to fight for the bantamweight title against Dominick Cruz. That duel was unsuccessful for Demetrius. After five rounds, he lost on points and decided to move down to the flyweight division.
The UFC decided to hold a mini-tournament in this weight to determine the champion. In the first semi-final, Johnson met Ian McCall and their fight ended in a draw. They had to have a rematch, in which Demetrius won by unanimous decision.
In the final of the tournament (September 22, 2012), he defeated Joseph Benavidez by split decision and since then, Demetrius Johnson has dominated the flyweight division for five years. He made ten successful defenses.
John Dodson (twice), John Moraga, Joseph Benavidez, Ali Bagautinov, Chris Cariaso, Kuoji Horiguchi, Henry Sejudo, Tim Elliott, Wilson Reis... None of these fighters could take the title from Johnson. And in the near future, most likely, no one will be able to do this.
The UFC is looking all over the world for promising fighters in this division, so that at least someone can shoot, so that there is competition. This year, a possible future worthy competitor for Johnson has already debuted in the organization - Russian Magomed Bibulatov, who previously became a champion in such organizations as ACB, WSOF and WFCA.
Despite the fact that Johnson is currently the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, he is still not as interesting to the viewer as Conor McGregor, who knows how and loves to put on a bright, scandalous show. And for fights he gets ten times less than the Irishman. So for the last fight he received 400 thousand dollars, while Conor even received many times more for the lost fight to Nate Diaz.
Many believe that Demetrius is one of the most boring champions in UFC history, but the fight against Wilson Race showed that this is not the case.
After the injury of Cody Garbrandt (11-0), TJ Dillashaw (14-3) began to actively lobby for the idea of his fight with Demetrious Johnson (26-2). The former champion is ready to come down in weight for the big fight. Dana White liked this idea and, according to rumors, made an attempt to organize a fight in August. But Mighty Mouse didn't like the idea. Earlier, Demetrius said that such a fight is not a “super fight”, since TJ is no longer a champion in his weight. Johnson himself is waiting for a contract to fight Ray Borg (11-2).
In a recent interview, Dana White said that "The Mouse" does not want to fight Dillashaw, calling such a position "crazy." The UFC president is surprised that Johnson is turning down the opportunity to take part in the first PPV evening and “a really big fight.” White has nothing against Ray Borg, but believes that the candidacy of the former UFC champion looks more preferable. Dana confirmed that if TJ comes down in weight, he will become a contender for a title shot against Demetrius if he wants it. White added that “The Mouse” does not book fights, and the UFC intends to make this fight happen no matter what. According to the president, Dillashaw has already started losing weight.
Today Johnson, breaking the information space. Demetrius told the full story of the UFC's negotiations and tricks, making unusual criticism of the organization. “The Little Mouse” remembered everything to the bosses - poor promotion, lack of interest in PPV fights and much more. Here is the full text of Johnson's message.
« For many years I was a company man and kept quiet while accepting any fights. I did everything that was asked of me, always remaining humble and grateful for the opportunities that were given to me mixed martial arts. This sport raised me that way. Unfortunately, the UFC's bad attitude and threats forced me to finally speak out. I decided to speak out now because I feel that my dignity and reputation as an ordinary person and as a fighter may be tarnished by the organization. The organization for which I have shed so much sweat and blood over the last seven years of my life. If I am required to express my opinion, thereby motivating other fighters to unite and start fighting for a fair distribution of income, then so be it.
UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard (he is responsible for organizing fights in bantamweight divisions, note.. I thought that a fight with Sergio Pettis would be more interesting, since he is more famous and has more in a long series victories Mick talked to Dana and then said I had no choice, it would be Borg, not Pettis. There are no other options. This was the team of Dana White and company. This meant that my only shot at a PPV as a flyweight would be against Ray Borg. I said OK, but it wasn't really fair because I have a good chance to fight on PPV after Cody Garbrandt said he wanted to come down in weight and fight me. I would like this fight.
We told Mick that it would be fair for me to take the Borg fight, but get PPV percentages of future fights at my weight. Mick agreed and said that it would be really fair and he didn't see any problem with the situation. A little later, Maynard spoke with Sean Shelby and Dana White. They rejected the idea of my flyweight PPV percentages. Besides, I was left with no other options, only a fight with Borg without a choice. I accepted this fight and decided to deal with the disgusting treatment from Shelby and White after I broke the record for title defenses. Mick thanked me for taking the fight in that situation and with that kind of attitude from Dana and Sean.
I wanted to be given a reason why I will not receive payouts from pay-per-views in the future. Sean Shelby called me and explained that the smaller fighters weren't selling well and the UFC couldn't make a star out of any of us. Shawn said my fight with Cody would not be for sale. I didn't agree with this. It seems to me that the Garbrandt fight will be in demand if it receives even a fraction of the marketing effort that is given to other big fights.
The UFC failed to promote me properly. Before my last fight, where I repeated the record for the number of belt defenses, we hoped for a sufficient number of reposts from social networks UFC, from their Facebook page. None of this happened - the posts appeared a few days before the fight on fight week. Two posts. Compared to other fighters they actively promote on social networks and media platforms, they did not do their job of promoting me at such a significant moment for me. In my recent conversation with Dana and Sean, it was confirmed to me that the UFC has no plans to make an effort to promote me.
Also, I want to point out the problem with promoting the entire flyweight division, even though Dana claims otherwise. I'm willing to bet that the UFC's marketing doesn't extend to our division. In 3 years, 3 new divisions appeared in the UFC; for two years (from 2012 to 2014), the organization focused all its marketing efforts on the growth of women's MMA. I understand that. But three years have passed since the opening of these divisions, but the company continues to do the bare minimum in terms of marketing for other weight classes. As a fighter, I pay close attention to the promotion around my fights. I can say that it is quite difficult to find any effort in what was done for my promotion outside of TUF 24. And even that effort, compared to other fighters, fights and seasons, was minimal. The UFC chooses not to promote me as the best fighter in the world and possibly one of the greatest fighters in history. I can't imagine others sports organizations in the world who will sacrifice best player his league or in his sport, and will not try to sell more of his product on his name. Look at mine track record, look at my list of early wins, look at my list of bonuses for the best performances of the night. Ask yourself, would the UFC really not be able to sell my fights if they were depriving me of dollars to promote me?
This is completely unrelated, but after I took the Borg fight, Cody Garbrandt injured his back and TJ Dillashaw said he wanted to fight me. Dana told me he wanted me to fight him. But I did not agree and I had several reasons. First, Dillashaw has never fought at flyweight and is unlikely to make the weight. If he doesn't make weight, I won't be able to break the record for most title defenses. Secondly, I was told that my fight with Garbrandt would not sell, so the fight with TJ would not be profitable either. Third, Dillashaw is not a champion and was knocked out by a guy I beat twice. After all, I had already agreed to the fight with Ray Borg that the UFC demanded, depriving me of the opportunity to receive PPV interest.
After I shared my thoughts with Dana, he irritably told me that I would fight TJ. Again, with no other options, despite my career and what we talked about before. He said if I didn't fight Dillashaw and turned down the Borg fight, he would get rid of the entire flyweight division. He said it was for TJ's sake that I was taking his chance away from him. The fact that Dana thinks I should do something with my career for TJ speaks volumes about White's priorities.
Sorry Dana, but this is Demetrious Johnson's career and my goals are to fight the best flyweights; break the record for title defenses; fight the bantamweight champion (Garbrandt - approx.. My career was not built for my sidekick Dana, who is neither the bantamweight champion nor a contender for the flyweight title.
As a result, I did not agree to this fight. The next day, Dana went to the media and said I didn't want to fight Dillashaw, obviously trying to pressure or intimidate me and possibly ruin my reputation. I released a short statement letting fans know that I had not agreed to fight TJ, but had already agreed to fight Borg, as requested by the UFC.
In the interview, Dana said that my reluctance to fight Teejay is “crazy”, that he is the one who makes the fights, and this is the fight that he wants to have. He made it seem like I was afraid or avoiding a fight with Dillashaw.
Mick talked to me about trying to change the opponent from Ray to TJ. I told him that I think Dillashaw needs to fight at least one fight in the flyweight division to prove that he can make weight and win here. After that, he can fight me if I'm not busy with Cody by then. The matchmaker decided that this made sense.
Later Mick called again. On Dana's instructions, he asked me to fight TJ and call off the deal with Ray. I told him that we were afraid that TJ wouldn't make weight and the fight wouldn't be a title fight, which would prevent me from breaking the record for title defenses. Meek said he guarantees Dillashaw will make weight. I told him that if he gives me such guarantees, and TJ and the UFC are so picky and put such uncomfortable conditions on me, then it would be fair to do the following - if TJ does not make weight, the fight will be canceled and I will receive my guaranteed fee and T.J.'s guaranteed fee. Meek said that Borg will be on the same card and, if anything, he could replace Dillashaw if he doesn't make weight. I asked him who exactly should I prepare for? After all, he just guaranteed that TJ would make weight.
This is a fight between the best promotion in the world and number one in the rankings best fighters in the world or an amateur tournament where I don’t know who my opponent will be until I come to the fight? Obviously there were no guarantees, they just wanted to force me to do something that would be wrong for my career. And they knew it. Their “guarantees” meant nothing, and they didn’t want to guarantee that they would reimburse me for damages I received during training camp for a fight that might not happen. The fact that Ray Borg will be a replacement shows a lack of respect for what we go through to prepare for fights at this level.
Mick came back with Dana and Shawn, talked to them, and then told me that they did not agree with my request, and I had to fight TJ with no guarantees and no financial “insurance” if Dillashaw could not make weight. This is typical of the broken promises and natural bullying that has accompanied my entire UFC career.”
Let's summarize:
- Demetrius agreed to their categorical demands to fight Ray Borg. Ray Borg also agreed.
- The UFC refused to give him PPV percentages for any future flyweight bouts. Previously they also did not give PPV percentages. DJ's request was fair and the division matchmaker agreed to it.
- Johnson offered the UFC fair terms to make the fight with Dillashaw happen, but they refused.
- Dana and Shawn said they were not interested in promoting DJ or promoting the "small" divisions. They say "The Mouse" will make PPV money from the Dillashaw fight, but they're missing the fact that there are a certain number of sales that need to be made that can't be made if they don't promote Demetrius properly like they have in his past fights .
- If TJ doesn't make weight, Johnson won't be able to break the record for most title defenses. But they refuse to pay him in this situation. Dana puts pressure on him through the media to get what he wants, not what is best for the fighter or the sport.
- The track record is not enough to promote fights.
