“He will eat me up alive” - Demetrious Johnson on potential grappling battle with Mikey Musumeci

In preparation for his highly anticipated rematch with Adriano Moraes on August 26, Demetrious Johnson has been putting a renewed focus on his ground game.

Hoping to avoid a repeat of his first outing with Moraes at ONE on TNT 1, Johnson has been working on his jiu-jitsu over the past few months, which has fans interested in seeing the flyweight great step into the circle in an entirely new way.

After watching Johnson take part in a unique mixed-rules bout with Rodtang, fans are now clamoring for a submission grappling bout between ‘Mighty Mouse’ and grappling wizard Mikey Musumeci.

In an interview with MMA Sucka, Johnson addressed fans’ desire to see Musumeci and himself matched up. Johnson’s response was simply, don’t hold your breath.

“I know people want me to grapple Mikey Musumeci. He will eat me up alive. Those guys live, breathe, and eat Brazilian jiu-jitsu, right? I’ve started grappling with a gi, and I’ve just been doing pure grappling, and there are levels to it. It’s just the sheer fact.”

While Johnson is happy to train with Musumeci and is even willing to compete against him, the former world champion is fairly certain how things will turn out.

“I’m sure I’ll train with Mikey Musumeci one of these days, but we can compete if he wants. But I know how it would go. He will tear my ACL!”

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Patience is key for Demetrious Johnson’s second shot at ONE Championship gold

Adriano Moraes’ footwork and range proved to be the deciding factor against Demetrious Johnson when the two met in April 2021.

Unable to pin down ‘Mikinho’ in the first round, ‘Mighty Mouse’ grew frustrated, rushing in following a leg kick by Moraes to close the distance. Instead, Moraes turned the tables and delivered a brutal knee that ended Johnson’s night in a second.

Though it’s not in his nature, Demetrious Johnson recognizes that he has to be more patient if he’s going to have a chance at taking home ONE gold.

As part of the ONE Championship x Amazon Prime press conference panel, DJ discussed the upcoming bout and assessed what he has to do differently.

"So, you know, it's no stranger that he likes to use his movement to have his opponents overextend to even catch them, how he caught me last time. So this time, I have to pull myself back because I'm a person; I trained for eight to 10 weeks, and I ain't got time to play these games. I just want to get in there and fight. So I go take my time and see where it goes.”