Demetrious Johnson says ‘it felt great’ to avoid long-haul flights to Asia

At ONE Fight Night 10, Demetrious Johnson got the chance to put on a show for his fans in the United States for the first time under the ONE Championship banner.

Alongside ‘Mighty Mouse’s’ rubber match with Adriano Moraes, ONE brought a stacked card for the promotion’s US debut live from the sold-out 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado, on Friday, May 5.

That evening, Johnson successfully defended his flyweight world championship in his trilogy matchup against the former kingpin to close out a huge night for ONE Championship.

Not only did he conquer ‘Mikinho’ throughout the 25-minute duel, but with talks of him stepping away from the sport in the future, he gave the audience a performance worthy of a place in the MMA GOAT discussion in Colorado.

On top of getting to compete in front of his home crowd fans, a huge benefit for Demetrious Johnson this time around was that he didn’t need to travel across the world to compete.

Taking a break from fighting in Asia to perform at home where he made his name as one of the greatest of all time, Johnson spoke about the travel difference during an interview with MMA Junkie:

“It’s an 18-hour flight. You go from Seattle to Taiwan or Japan, then Japan to Singapore. And with the layovers and it all accumulates to 18 hours. It felt great, it felt great. Us not dealing with a timezone change.”

Catch the full interview below:

Demetrious Johnson versus Moraes’s trilogy battle and the entire ONE Fight Night 10 card are available to watch for free via the replay on Prime Video for North American viewers.