Demetrious Johnson Wins Gold at the 2023 IBJJF World Championship

Reigning ONE Flyweight MMA World Champion, Demetrious Johnson, has achieved another milestone in his legendary combat sports career. “Mighty Mouse” competed at the IBJJF World Masters Championship 2023 this week in Las Vegas, Nevada, and he bested six competitors to become the Master 2 Featherweight Brown Belt Champion.

Demetrious Johnson continues his magic in BJJ

It was no small feat for the mixed martial arts legend. Taking a short detour from his bread and butter, Johnson joined the ranks in one of the most crowded divisions of the prestigious BJJ tournament, with over 30 competitors. While he is known for his technical grappling mastery in MMA, it was undoubtedly a challenge for “Mighty Mouse” to compete against athletes who have been focused purely on BJJ for their entire careers. However, Johnson proved his mettle by winning all six of his matches–five by points and one via an armbar submission.

While taking the stage to receive his medal, he was also awarded the second stripe of his brown belt. It was a fitting way to cap off an incredible year for Johnson. Johnson claimed the ONE Flyweight MMA World Title in 2022 with a picture-perfect knockout of Adriano Moraes in their rematch at ONE on Prime Video. The superstar pair ran it back when ONE debuted in the U.S. with ONE Fight Night 10 in May, and “Mighty Mouse” capped off the legendary trilogy with a unanimous decision to win over his Brazilian rival.

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Directly after that victory, Johnson hinted that retirement was on his mind, but he also mentioned that he would like to pursue special fights and compete in BJJ tournaments to test out specific parts of his skill set. While the door isn’t completely closed on him returning to the Circle to defend his flyweight MMA belt sometime in the future, “Mighty Mouse’s” focus is clearly on grappling for now. Fans and fighters alike are eagerly awaiting news on his ONE career; nonetheless, several contenders have called him out over the last few months.

These athletes still want to face the former UFC champion

ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion Jarred Brooks, in particular, has made it no secret that he’s seeking a showdown with Johnson, as he believes it would be the perfect send-off for the pound-for-pound legend.

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ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Champion Mikey “Darth Rigatoni” Musumeci has also respectfully called Johnson on a couple of occasions.With his newfound success in grappling competition, the world may get to see a meeting between the two sooner rather than later.