“It was just me” - Demetrious Johnson recalls lonely start to his martial arts journey

Demetrious Johnson had a lonely start to his martial arts journey.

Johnson recently spoke about his trajectory to MMA stardom on his YouTube channel in response to a fan-made video called “Demetrious Johnson: The Man the UFC Erased.”

There was a moment in the video where the YouTuber explained how DJ coped with dire situations in his early life by immersing himself with video games and watching Pride FC. Johnson attested to that analysis and added:

“When I was in high school, I spent most of my time wrestling, doing track, and cross country. Some of my friends did a lot of drugs.”

The following clips show Demetrious Johnson building his life alone without a father, finding love in the process with his now-wife Destiny Johnson, and training in mixed martial arts.

In the next clip, his wife said they were “hustlers” working two to three jobs, not following the status quo in order to make their dreams a reality.

'Mighty Mouse' added:

“When I said that I was hustling by myself, what that means is that I think when you’re in high school, you kind of like you’re still hanging out with your high school buddies, which I was. But when I took the step to do mixed martial arts, it was me and another gentleman. Nobody else."

Johnson continued:

"So with that being said, the other gentleman who did mixed martial arts with me, he dropped out, so it was just me. So all the people I know to this day, I did not know in high school. It was basically me going to the gym saying, ‘hey, what’s up, my name is Demetrious Johnson and I love martial arts and I love Jean-Claude Van Damme.’"

Check out the full video below:

---

Paying the bills and providing for the family is Demetrious Johnson’s number one priority

What sets Demetrious Johnson apart from other world champions is that even after 15 years of fighting, his number one priority is to pay the bills and provide for his family.

In the same video, Johnson’s wife explained the motivating factor to his continuing success as a father, husband, and mixed martial artist:

“I remember when we were pregnant with our first son, he goes, ‘I’m nervous because I don’t know what a father does.’ … He doesn’t want to go back to working three, four jobs and not be able to put food on the table.”

‘Mighty Mouse’ has fulfilled what he set out to do and then some. While he feels there’s still more to accomplish in his life, he knows that as long as his family is safe and secure, he won't stop reaching for any new goals ahead.