ONE Championship’s Demetrious Johnson is putting his goals of streaming on Twitch full-time on the back burner.
There’s a list of fighters who found stardom on Twitch, including Max Holloway, Angela Hill, and “Rampage” Jackson. But Johnson has been in the game longer and feels the streaming service comes with a few obstacles to conquer.
During his successful streaming career, Johnson hardly had any time for his family. He would train, stream, and repeat. Exhaustion eventually caught up with him, and it was time to put the sticks down and focus on the important things.
“My schedule basically consisted of this: I would go to the gym, train for a session, stream afterward, then get my second session in, come home, eat dinner, kiss my wife, and then go downstairs and stream for another two hours,” Johnson said. At the time, he was making around $3,000 per month from streaming, enough to cover his mortgage. “But then it came to a point where I was like, ‘Why am I doing this? I don’t get to go to bed with my wife. I’m absolutely exhausted. It’s just not worth it,’ ” Johnson told The Washington Post.
He’s sorry for streamers’ who experience a fluctuation in their followers and subscribers. The thought of being dependent on subscribers to support himself financially does not entice him. Furthermore, the point of him playing video games is simply for enjoyment.
Training as a mixed martial artist probably sounds daunting to the average gamer. Being one of the greatest fighters in the world is far from easy, but to Johnson, it makes a lot more sense than swimming in Twitch’s algorithm pool and maintaining the support of subscribers.
Once, “Mighty Mouse” wished to live the seemingly exciting life as a gamer on Twitch. Now, those plans have come to an end.
The more conversations he has with current streamers and channels he views, the less desirable the idea becomes. Now, Demetrious Johnson fights with ONE Championship.
“Wake up every day and stream full time? … Oh god no. I couldn’t do it,” Johnson said during an interview on The Washington Post’s Friday live stream, Press Play. “Sometimes I feel bad for some of the streamers; one moment they have a s—load [of subscribers], and then next thing you know, they take a little time off, and their subscriber numbers just drop. I’ll play video games because I enjoy it, but I don’t want it to be my livelihood,” Johnson continues to say.
Johnson’s love for video games will never diminish. However, now just isn’t the time for him to pursue a full-time streaming career on Twitch.
At this time, his focus is on his next bout with ONE Championship. On March 26 he faces off with flyweight Muay Thai Champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon in a special rules match.
What are your thoughts on “Mighty Mouse” Demetrious Johnson giving up being a full-time Twitch streamer?
