Demetrious Johnson bares why trades between MMA organizations are unlikely to happen again

Demetrious Johnson doesn’t see trades becoming a regular thing in mixed martial arts.

In 2018, ‘Mighty Mouse’ made history by being part of the first trade in the history of the sport. Johnson was sent to ONE Championship by the UFC in exchange for former ONE welterweight world champion Ben Askren. Knowing what we know now, it’s safe to say that ONE Championship was the winner of that particular trade.

Appearing on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani just days before his first defense of the ONE flyweight world championship against former world titleholder Adriano Moraes, Demetrious Johnson shared his thoughts on trades within the sport, casting doubt that we will ever see anything like it again:

“I don't think that would happen again. I don't think so. I think now that content is king... And for so many shows that you have with ONE. They're doing the Lumpinee Stadium every Friday night. You have the Amazon show. And you have the UFC, Bellator, PFL, LFA, and CFFC. You have so many different things about where to find the next star and content. It's just hard. It's just very, very hard.”

Watch the full interview below:

After making his promotional debut in 2019, Demetrious Johnson rattled off three straight victories to win the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix Tournament. The win led him to then-ONE flyweight world champion Adriano Moraes. The two men first met at ONE on TNT 1 in 2021 with Johnson suffering the first knockout loss of his career.

16 months later, ‘Mighty Mouse’ bounced back, scoring a brutal fourth-round flying knee to capture his first world championship with the promotion. Fast forward to May 2023, the two flyweight icons are set to do battle once again and close out their already rivalry in front of a raucous U.S. crowd for the very first time.

Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can catch ONE Fight Night 10 live and for free in U.S. primetime this Friday night.