MMA great Demetrious Johnson has taken a step back from the sport that he made his name in as of late.
Despite still being the flyweight titleholder in ONE Championship, he has become completely focused on competing in jiu-jitsu, which was always something he wanted to do toward the end of his career.
Johnson has been able to stimulate himself by learning to compete in grappling tournaments in the gi having never focused on this area in the past.
He's already achieved some great success at the brown belt level and was recently promoted to a black belt following his dedication to grappling.
In fact, Johnson isn't just swapping his MMA training for jiu-jitsu, he believes that his new pursuit is even harder...
Demetrious Johnson Says The Techniques & Specific Preparation Makes MMA Easier Than Jiu-Jitsu
During a recent appearance on the Unsubscribe Podcast, Johnson explained his reasoning for believing MMA is easier than competing in jiu-jitsu.
"Mighty Mouse" thinks the intricacies of training and competing in the gi specifically makes it much harder to adapt to or avoid certain difficult positions that require a lot of practice.
Fighting (MMA) is so much easier than jiu-jitsu… Gi is a lot harder. No gi is f***ing easy, in my opinion," Johnson said. "Because like, If I’m going with Kody and let’s say he has some form of curriculum in the gi, if he grabs me, I have to break his grip. He’s attached to me, we become one. In no gi, I can just push him and create space and move.
If I put him in like, a Lasso, or a Worm, or a Squid guard and he’s never been exposed to it, he’s like, 'What the f*ck is this!?'
Johnson also said that another part of his reasoning is the difference in how fighters must prepare to compete in the two sports.
He believes that being given a specific opponent in MMA that can be studied and preparation catered for for makes everything a lot easier to plan and predict. That's compared to stepping into a tournament against multiple unknown competitors.
The unknown sucks. It’s like, 'Okay, I’m going to a tournament with 30 motherf*ckers.' I don’t know what you’re going to do. It is what it is, we’re gonna run it and see what happens. (MMA) is like, 'Okay, I’m fighting you, I have three months to prepare for you. I can watch all this tape on you. I know what your tendencies are, I know what your mistakes are, I know what you’re strong at. Alright, light work, easy.'