Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson does not think MMA is up to the mark with the high standards set by boxing, at least at the current moment. One of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time, the reigning ONE (and former UFC) flyweight champion’s words hold much more significance than anyone except a handful of people in the world. This is why his claim that Islam Makhachev was a “better version” of Khabib Nurmagomedov, an opinion that didn’t have many takers in the MMA fan community before his statement, has created such a buzz.

And the champ, in another display of his sharp and unique insights into the fight game, compared the state of boxing and mixed martial arts as it stands right now. Johnson, in his latest interview with MMA journalist Ariel Helwani, has made another controversial claim that is equally unlikely to go down well with many MMA fans. However, the former UFC champion has very good reasons for it.

Speaking about the current combat sports landscape, Johnson said that right now “I feel like boxing is more exciting than mixed martial arts.” The GOAT contender felt that while there were times “when mixed martial arts was having its peaks,” this wasn’t one of those times. At the moment, as per ‘Mighty Mouse’, the boxing world has far more to offer than mixed martial arts, which does not have exciting fights, except for Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 on June 1, on the horizon.

“But right now you just have Ryan Garcia vs. Devin Haney. Ryan Garcia just popped. And then you had Francis Ngannou who got knocked out by Anthony Joshua. We just had the beautiful Tyson Fury and Usyk just beat him… That fight was absolutely amazing from round one to round twelve I was on the edge of my seat,” he said.

Johnson pointed to many of the recent blockbuster boxing matches in the recent past, which have almost breathed a new life into the sport’s popularity. Among them, predictably, was the recent Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury undisputed bout, which saw the momentum shift between the two champions for the entirety of the twelve rounds. In addition, he cited the recent Ryan Garcia vs. Devin Haney bout, which had one of the wildest, most unpredictable, and exciting build-ups to a fight in the recent past, and saw ‘King Ry’ break out as a combat sports superstar.

After hinting that he might retire last year, ‘Mighty Mouse’ has been pretty active on YouTube over the same period. As a bona fide GOAT contender in MMA, he breaks down and reacts to fights on his channel, providing his own unique (and often controversial) insights on them. This brings us to the topic that saw one of the hottest takes he has given (and referred to in his case for boxing being more exciting than MMA right now): Francis Ngannou vs. Anthony Joshua.

‘DJ’ explains why Anthony Joshua will beat Francis Ngannou in MMA

In a shocking turn of events, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou almost beat Tyson Fury in their boxing match last year. Contrary to all of the expectations, Ngannou, in one of the most jaw-dropping moments in the history of all of the combat sports, knocked down ‘The Gypsy King’ in the third round. In the end, as the dust settled after the ten rounds were over and done with, ‘The Predator’, on debut, lost a one-point split decision to the WBC heavyweight champion.

With the unexpected result and Ngannou giving a good account of himself in his first foray at the highest level of the sweet science, expectations were high for the former UFC champ, and many prophesied that Ngannou would be the next big thing in heavyweight boxing, and may even contend for the title soon.

Alas, that was not to be. Former heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua, in Ngannou’s second fight made him look like an amateur. Before putting the MMA fighter to sleep in the second round, the Englishman had managed to knock down a bewildered and shocked Ngannou twice. Meanwhile, Demetrious Johnson had perhaps the most distinct and unique take on the matter, arguing that Joshua would have won even if he had fought Ngannou under the Unified Rules of MMA instead of the Queensberry rules of boxing.

He told Ariel Helwani that since Ngannou had a boxing-heavy style and made scarce use of his grappling and kicks, the fight would be expected to be on the feet. And if the fight was on the feet with both men trading punches, Joshua, with his champion boxing pedigree, combined with amazing athleticism for his size would ultimately have prevailed over ‘The Predator’, even in the octagon after everything had been said and done.

“It’s not like Francis is some world-class kickboxer. You look at all Francis’ fights, he does have some submission wins, he does have somewhere he takes somebody down. But if I can take a guy like Anthony Joshua, who is an athletic specimen, who understands range and distance, and I train him for six months, six months to defend a takedown, check the leg kick, and just box. You’re not going to have 16-ounce gloves. The distance doesn’t change at all. So if I can take somebody who is athletic, which, Anthony Joshua is athletic, it’s an easy fight,” he said.

What are your thoughts on ‘Mighty Mouse’s controversial claims? Drop your views in the comments below.