“Mad respect to him” - Demetrious Johnson open to defend his world title against Kairat Akhmetov

ONE flyweight world champion Demetrious Johnson said he’s open to defending his newly acquired world title against Kairat Akhmetov.

Following Johnson’s outstanding revenge knee KO over Adriano Moraes at ONE on Prime Video 1, the 35-year-old MMA icon said he’s game for any opponent. Interestingly, at the top of his hit list, there’s former ONE flyweight world champion Kairat Akhmetov.

At the ONE on Prime Video 1 post-fight interview, ‘Mighty Mouse’ welcomed the chance to fight the Kazakhstani standout in the near future:

“I wouldn't mind giving Kairat Akhmetov a chance, but it's up to ONE Championship. You know, like, at the beginning of this, I didn't even know I was going to get a title shot. I thought it'd be Rodtang that I was going to go down to fight whoever was next in line or work my way back to the ladder, you know."

Johnson further added:

"But Kairat Akhmetov, you know, mad respect to him. He's on, like, a five or six-fight win streak. I thought he was going to get a title shot against Adriano. But they called me and said, hey, this is who you're fighting next. I said, okay, sounds good.”

Watch Johnson's full interview below:

Demetrious Johnson vs. Kairat Akhmetov will most certainly be a compelling matchup. Sitting at No.3 in the division, Akhmetov would be the next logical choice. ‘The Kazakh’ is a decorated Greco-Roman wrestler known for scoring points by dominating opponents on the ground for minutes on end. It would be interesting to see how Demetrious Johnson deals with Akhmetov’s pressure but it’s not something he hasn’t seen before.

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Demetrious Johnson says he’s not rushing his next move

Fighting two major fights in one year certainly takes a toll. After a superfight with Rodtang Jitmuangnon back in March and a world title shot with Moraes on a historic Prime Video event just days ago, who could blame Demetrious Johnson for taking some time for himself before his next challenge?

In the same interview, when asked if he would like to get back to do a trilogy with Moraes or do the Akhmetov fight, Johnson replied:

“I'm just going to chill. I love this sport. You know, I said earlier, like the pressure of fighting, and what's going to happen, you know, I love it, and I also hate it. But at the same time, as I said, I'm in the mindset now that I don't care if I win or lose. I just want to go out there, put on a good show, and continue to get better. And I feel like that's what I did tonight.”