Reigning ONE Flyweight MMA World Champion Demetrious Johnson has found himself a new training partner in Mikey Musumeci. Johnson has announced his participation in the 2024 IBJJF World Master, which will be held from August 29 to 31 in Las Vegas. This will be Johnson’s debut tournament as a BJJ black belt. 

Musumeci, on the other hand, is preparing himself for his clash with Kade Ruotolo at ONE 168: Denver. Musumeci and Johnson have been training together for quite some time now and Johnson showed his appreciation towards the champion through an Instagram post. However, this time it was the turn of Musumeci to return the favor for ‘Mighty Mouse’. 

Mikey Musumeci is highly impressed with Demetrious Johnson and his skills 

Demetrious Johnson traveled to Las Vegas to have a training session with Mikey Musumeci, Aljamain Sterling, and Brandon Moreno. ‘Mighty Mouse’ took to his YouTube channel to share glimpses of his training, and it seems the MMA world champion is ready for his next challenge. The 38-year-old engaged in some intense grappling sessions with Musumeci and seemed to be learning from the best. Musumeci seemed highly impressed with ‘Mighty Mouse’ and said, “It’s so awesome you know I am such a big fan of him from MMA. He’s a goat right and getting to train with him in Jiu-Jitsu is like super fun. He’s so playful. It’s like he learns instantly. Like milliseconds he learns.” 

‘Darth Rigatoni’ pointed out that he wants to engage in some more sessions with him as he is a very fast learner. He said, “So I just want to train with him more he’s awesome. I was translating it to him for MMA like how he does it in MMA. And then he instantly understood.” Johnson has participated in BJJ tournaments in the past, but this time, things will be a bit different as he will be competing against some of the best black belts in the world. But looking at his preparations, it feels like he is up for his next challenge. 

The biggest question is will he ever return for his MMA clash? Let us take a look at it. 

Who do you think Demetrious Johnson will fight in the MMA career next? 

Demetrious Johnson was last seen in action at ONE Fight Night 10 when he took on Adriano Moraes for the third time in his career. After winning the fight and defending his title, Johnson has been out of action for more than a year. However, ‘Mighty Mouse’ is yet to announce his retirement from the sport but is rather looking to test himself in the field of BJJ. Hopefully, after accomplishing everything in BJJ, he can return to defend his title one more time in ONE Championship.

There have been fighters in the promotion, including strawweight MMA king Jarred Brooks, who have shown their interest in fighting the champion. But it will be interesting to see whether ‘Mighty Mouse’ accepts the challenge or not. While Johnson may be out of action in ONE, his training partner will be competing again soon. Mikey Musumeci will be taking on Kade Ruotolo at ONE 168: Denver and will be looking to win the lightweight title.

Both fighters are fresh off a victory in their last outing at ONE 167 and will look to keep their winning momentum going. The battle is also significant as two of the cleanest fighters in BJJ will be competing against each other in a sport where the use of drugs is significant. Both fighters have a lot of respect for each other, but the champion feels he has a slight advantage in his clash. During a recent interview with ONE, he said, “I think one thing that favors me in the matchup is that I feel like I have a lot of different routes to victory, whether it’s going for the back or sticking to my passing,”

Who do you think will win the fight at ONE 168: Denver? Let us know about it in the comments below.