“I just wanna grapple” - Demetrious Johnson doesn’t want any star treatment when he competes at IBJJF

Demetrious Johnson doesn’t want any hype or star treatment when he dons the gi for the IBJJF Masters World Championship.

Johnson is already among the greatest mixed martial artists of all time, but that doesn’t stop him from jumping into another sport and growing his legacy as a fighter.

In an interview with Ariel Helwani at The MMA Hour, the reigning ONE flyweight world champion said just wants to compete and prove that his BJJ is just as good, or even better, as some of his opponents.

‘Mighty Mouse’ said he is aware that some people could quickly jump up and be taken aback by his mere presence in the tournament.

"Honestly, I thought I was going to show up and jump in the tournament like 'Demetrious Johnson? What the f*** is he doing here!' I just wanna grapple, see how I do, see where I'm at. I mean it's a challenge, it's a 38-men bracket,” he said.

Johnson, who is also a former UFC flyweight world champion, recently received his brown belt and decided to give BJJ a try while he waits for his next fight in ONE Championship. With 25 professional wins to his belt, Johnson’s crippling style of grappling earned him eight submission wins throughout his combat sports career.

The 37-year-old has two submission wins in ONE Championship, one in MMA and the other in his mixed-rules bout against ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon at ONE X.

His first submission win in ONE Championship was against Japanese star Yuya Wakamatsu in his promotional debut in the quarterfinals of the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix in March 2019 in Tokyo.

Johnson’s latest submission win was his clinical dissection of Rodtang in March 2022. After surviving Rodtang’s Muay Thai onslaught in the first round, the American legend knew the Thai megastar would be at his mercy once they reached the MMA frame.

After avoiding a scary left hook, Johnson took Rodtang down and proceeded to put the match under his control. The moment he locked in the body triangle, the submission was practically inevitable.

He carefully wrapped his arms around Rodtang’s neck and immediately took the air out of the seemingly invincible ‘Iron Man’ for the second-round submission win.

Watch Johnson's interview below: