Former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson is contemplating a new challenge in his combat sports career. He wants to compete at the no-gi world championships.
The MMA legend recently trained with world-renowned Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion Mikey Musumeci in Las Vegas, where he discussed his potential transition from gi to no-gi competition.
During a training session on the MIGHTY podcast, Johnson explained his evolving approach to grappling. “I’m not done with the gi. I’m still going to keep on competing in the gi, but I’m going to get more reps in the no gijust to change it up a bit,” Johnson stated.
After watching the Craig Jones Invitational 2, the former champion found himself inspired to explore the no-gi game more seriously.
Musumeci, widely regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound grapplers in the world, expressed strong confidence in Johnson’s potential. “I think that he could surprise a lot of people in no gi, you know, and I want to be a part of his training camp,” Musumeci said. “I see how much potential he has. Like a lot of the people I compete with, I feel like he’ll [beat].”
Johnson’s transition to no-gi might seem natural given his MMA background. As he pointed out, “I essentially started in no-gi from mixed martial arts.” However, the sport has evolved significantly, with specialized techniques and strategies that differ from traditional MMA grappling. During the training session, Johnson focused heavily on understanding leg entanglements and guard passing, areas where modern no-gi competition has particularly advanced.
The multi-time world champion demonstrated his characteristic humility and work ethic during the session, repeatedly placing himself in difficult positions to understand how elite grapplers like Musumeci navigate them.
“I keep pulling guards. I want see how they’re passing my guard so easily,” Johnson explained, showing his analytical approach to learning.
When asked about his future plans, Johnson remained cautiously optimistic. “Next one might be no-gi worlds, but we’ll see. I want to get some more grappling in and just try my hand in no,” he said.
