Demetrious Johnson: MMA "Easiest Sport" To Become A World Champion

UFC legend Demetrious Johnson has a hot take on the paths to world titles in MMA and boxing.

Johnson remains undecided on his MMA future after hinting at a potential retirement. He defended the ONE 135lb title by defeating Adriano Moraes in their trilogy earlier this year. He won by unanimous decision after knocking out Moraes in their rematch last August.

As he ponders his athletic future, Johnson remains busy in content creation, both with his video game streaming and new podcast with Henry Cejudo. His audience has grown immensely in recent months; especially after the collaboration with Cejudo.

Johnson is one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time after a legendary run as the UFC's flyweight champion. Despite some of the challenges he dealt with during his title reign, he feels it's the easiest run to a world championship in all of combat sports.

Demetrious Johnson Weighs In On MMA vs. Boxing Debate

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In a recent TikTok post, Johnson explained his stance.

"That's the thing about boxing," Johnson said. "Mixed Martial Arts is the easiest sport to become champion in. When you fight boxing, it's boxing. Every person you fight in boxing is going to be good in boxing... when you fight mixed martial arts, you're gonna have people who have significant big holes in them, right? You have a guy like Alex Pereira...6-1 and he becomes a champion in mixed martial arts. You can have no wrestling experience and become a world champion. You look at Brock Lesnar, he became a world champion and he had no stand-up experience whatsoever.

"That's why I feel MMA is the easiest to become a world champion...you can have deficiencies and still become a champion. In boxing, you can't, you have to be a good boxer to become a world champion, you just have to."

In boxing, there are exponentially more weight classes than in MMA. While calls for additional weight classes in promotions such as the UFC have been made, it's unlikely we'll see substantial change across the sport.

Johnson won the UFC inaugural flyweight title by defeating Joseph Benavidez at UFC 152. He went on to win 13 consecutive flyweight fights, the longest winning streak in the division's history.

Johnson's take has created a lot of conversations about the difficulties in MMA versus boxing. Regardless of where you stand, both boxing and MMA have their pros and cons when it comes to the paths to notoriety.

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