Joe Rogan says 'prime' Demetrious Johnson is MMA GOAT

Bengaluru, September 2: Joe Rogan has never shied away from voicing his opinions, especially when it comes to mixed martial arts. And just a few days ago, the podcaster, comedian, and combat sports commentator shared his thoughts on the all-time greats in MMA.

Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson, Khabib "The Eagle" Nurmagomedov, Jon "Bones" Jones, and Anderson "The Spider" Silva were all names that Rogan brought up.

He did, however, add that one man stood above the rest at his absolute peak - 12-time Mixed Martial Arts World Champion Johnson, who now competes in ONE Championship.

"'Mighty Mouse' in his prime is the greatest I've ever seen," Rogan said.

"Anderson Silva was fantastic in his prime, no doubt about it. But Mighty Mouse - the only problem with 'Mighty Mouse' is that he's in a weight class that's very small. There's not a lot of guys that weigh 125 pounds, so there's not the same talent pool that Anderson Silva dealt with."

Johnson, who began his career in the U.S., made his ONE Championship debut in 2019, beating two top-level opponents before defeating Danny "The King" Kingad to become the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix Champion.

For his efforts, "Mighty Mouse" earned a shot at flyweight titleholder Adriano "Mikinho" Moraes, and the two superstars met this year at "ONE on TNT I."

Moraes beat Johnson with a second-round knockout by knee - handing the American his first and only finish to date.
Still, Rogan sized up Johnson's entire career when giving him the GOAT status.

"'Mighty Mouse' just destroyed people and destroyed people in a way where they looked overwhelmed and confused," Rogan said.

"Like they couldn't touch him. His movement and his ability to mix the wrestling and the striking and the submissions together - flawlessly and seamlessly - was incredible."

Up next, catch all the action from ONE: EMPOWER. Watch the event on Disney+ Hotstar or Star Sports Select 1 beginning with the lead card at 5 p.m. India Standard Time (IST) on Friday, 3 September.

Source: Media Release