ONE Championship: Demetrious Johnson says he’d be ‘stupid’ to think Rodtang won’t have takedown defence
- ‘Rodtang has sweeps, he knows how to balance ... I’m sure he’s gonna be just fine’ Johnson says
- MMA legend admits he has to ‘survive enough in first round that I’m not too beat up to go and do my job’ in special rules bout against Muay Thai icon
The consensus in the MMA world is that Demetrious Johnson will be able to take down Rodtang Jitmuangnon and finish him at will if he survives the first round of their ONE Championship special rules bout on December 5.
But the flyweight “GOAT” (greatest of all time) has insisted he would be a fool to dismiss Muay Thai icon Rodtang’s chances once the ruleset switches to MMA in Singapore.
“He’s gonna have some takedown defence,” Johnson told the Post. “I would be stupid to think that from here to [the fight] or that in his whole entire career, he’s never worked a lick of takedown defence.
“That’s like me, if I was fighting Canelo Alvarez, yeah, I guarantee he hasn’t worked an ounce of takedown defence, 1,000 per cent. No, but Rodtang, he has sweeps, he knows how to balance. I’m sure he’s gonna be just fine. It’s gonna be a good fight.”
ONE chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong’s announcement of the fight to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour last week has caused plenty of buzz, with fighters and fans weighing in on the unique match-up.
