“I don’t wanna get lost in that” - Demetrious Johnson not focused on becoming MMA GOAT

‘Mighty Mouse’ Demetrious Johnson has always come across as one of the best minds in MMA.

Always humble and well spoken, ‘DJ’ recently appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience where he spoke about everything from his UFC departure to his current training routines.

One aspect of their conversation was Demetrious Johnson being in the final years of his fighting career and how he sees his own path through the sport and out the other side.

Speaking about his mentality, Johnson said:

“I don’t wanna get lost in that [being too focused on the sport], not succumb to that ego, [and try to] be the GOAT. You know what, we won, how do I get to the end game where our businesses thrive and succeed, and we can ride it out into the sunset?”

He added:

“So when they ask ‘Man how are you still so successful?’ It’s because I didn’t put all my eggs in one basket. Well I did, but I’m also branching out and doing many things.”

The pair also touched on how he plans on seeing out his MMA career. Johnson stated that he will fight twice next year and take it from there. 'Mighty Mouse' also suggested that he will continue competing in some way after retiring from MMA, likely in submission grappling.

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Demetrious Johnson knew he was in for "something fun" when he joined ONE Championship

In the same podcast, the ONE flyweight world champion and the UFC’s long-time color commentator discussed a plethora of other topics.

Both ‘DJ’ and Rogan praised ONE Championship for the way the promotion hosts different aspects of martial arts all under one banner. ‘Mighty Mouse’ referred to one fight in particular that ONE hosted and another that involved him:

“We had one boxing match, which was for a WBC title; boxing gloves, full-blown boxing. It was a world title fight. That’s one of the things I love about ONE Championship, is that they’re mixing it up. So when I got the opportunity to go there and compete like, I knew I had the opportunity to do something fun like I did with Rodtang [Jitmuangnon].”

Before avenging his loss to Adriano Moraes and winning the flyweight world championship, Demetrious Johnson competed against Rodtang in a mixed-rules superfight at ONE X this March.

Johnson’s negotiations in the buildup to that fight were also a big part of the podcast, with ‘Mighty Mouse’ detailing how that contest came together.

Watch Demetrious Johnson speak about fighting Rodtang below: