Legendary mixed martial arts fighter Demetrious Johnson may continue with his illustrious career, especially if he gets to headline another ONE Championship event in the United States.
‘Mighty Mouse’, the reigning ONE flyweight world champion, made a successful defense of his title at ONE Fight Night 10 on Prime Video on May 5 in Denver, Colorado.
He defeated former divisional king Adriano Moraes by unanimous decision in their headlining trilogy title fight at ONE Championship’s historic first live on-ground U.S. event, which was well received by American fans.
In the lead-up to the landmark show, however, talk was rife that the third fight with Moraes was the swan song for the long and celebrated career of Demetrious Johnson.
Some quarters expected a retirement announcement following the marquee fight but none came, with the American legend choosing to discuss the matter first with family, his team and fellow legends of the game.
In a recent interview on The MMA Hour, Demetrious Johnson opened the possibility of him continuing to fight, more so if it is a ONE event in the U.S. The pride of Parkland, Washington, said:
“If there’s another one, yeah I would hope so. I love it, it’s great shorter flight. There’s only a couple of commissions in our area, in our area, in North America that do our ruleset with the hydration and the knees to the grounded opponent. So, yeah we’ll see.”
Watch the interview below:
Efforts are now under way to have ONE Championship to hold more shows in the U.S., with officials of the promotion and Amazon Prime Video in active discussions to make it happen though an expanded partnership.
If ever Demetrious Johnson does continue to fight, be it in the U.S. or somewhere else, his opponent could well be No. 2 contender Kairat Akhmetov of Kazakhstan, who solidified his standing as the challenger-in-waiting with his own unanimous decision win at ONE Fight Night 10.
ONE Fight NIght 10 was played to a sold-out 1stBank Center in Denver. Its replay is available for free via Amazon Prime in North America.