Former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson is now a ONE Championship fighter, and it’s becoming clearer and clearer that he’s a perfect fit for the promotion. Mere weeks into his time as a ONE Championship fighter, he’s already being pushed by the full muscle of the promotion’s substantial marketing department. Given that he occasionally felt a little under-promoted by the UFC, he’s very excited about this.
“It feels good,” Demetrious Johnson told BJPENN.COM in Singapore this week. “I think with the UFC, their model is different than ONE Championship’s is. They’re looking for the next big star and trying to push out that next pay-per-view. And that’s what the North American audience wants. They want to see confrontation.”
“That being said, ONE Championship, I feel they’re not just getting behind me, but they’re getting behind all the athletes that share the same values as me… honor, humility, respect discipline, and that’s why I feel it’s going to be a better fit for me,” he added.
“And obviously I’m more the average height of the nationality over here [laughs].”
ONE Championship will be welcoming Demetrious Johnson to their roster with an epic Eight-Man Flyweight Grand Prix. As if this wasn’t enough, the martial arts promotion also recently announced that they are venturing into the world of E-Sports, and that Johnson, an avid gamer, will be the chief brand ambassador for this new venture.
“Oh let’s make it happen,” Johnson said of his reaction ONE Championship’s plans to branch into E-Sports. “Obviously I’ve been deemed as the chief brand ambassador. It’s funny because before they told me that role, I was already in BlizzCon talking to one of their strategists about what’s going to be the best name for the company, how would it go, what games they’ve been thinking about. I had a little meeting with those guys trying to figure out what games we’re going to bring in for ONE Championship. So I’m very excited about it. And I knew about this prior to me making the full move over to ONE Championship.”
How do you think Demetrious Johnson will be received by ONE Championship’s fans?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/8/2018.