Demetrious Johnson, regarded as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, has long been in conversations for a potential grappling match against Mikey Musumeci.
With both athletes under contract with ONE Championship, efforts have been made behind the scenes to book the match, though it has never materialized.

When Johnson announced his retirement from MMA, the chances of seeing this dream match seemed slim, though he hinted he would continue competing in BJJ tournaments – which kept hopes alive.
However, Johnson recently confirmed that the likelihood of this match happening has now dropped to zero.

In a conversation with Ariel Helwani, Johnson reflected on the offer:

They offered me to do a superfight with Mikey Musumeci.

They’re, like: “Hey, what do you think about doing a grappling match with Mikey?”
And then we were going back and forth like with the price, and we just couldn’t come to terms.

Then they were like: “How about a superfight with Mikey Musumeci? We’ll do one round grappling and one round mixed martial arts?”

I was, like – guys, I truly don’t care about fighting.

The idea of alternating rounds between grappling and MMA isn’t entirely new for Johnson.
He previously fought Muay Thai legend Rodtang Jitmuangnon in a mixed-rules bout, switching between Muay Thai and MMA rounds:

I’m happy those opportunities came to me because I remember when I was on the couch and they called me to fight Rodtang – and I was, like: “Let’s f*cking do it, let’s lace it up!”

I called Matt (Hume) and Matt was like: “Let’s get it!”

But when those (grappling) opportunities presented itself, I was like – nah, I don’t really care.

I’ve been getting opportunities from Jiu-Jitsu competitions to go out there and grapple some monsters, but I’m like – I don’t care.

And the reason Johnson isn’t interested?
It’s because he wants to keep having fun with BJJ:

For me Jiu-Jitsu is fun. I get to go out there and just compete and not worry about trying to get a big paycheque or anything like that, or do press-conferences and all that stuff.

Maybe one day I might get to that point but right now it’s truly fun.
I’ve signed up to this tournament, I pay my $150, I pay my IBJJF yearly membership, and I show up like a weekend warrior.

I go to work and then after the tournament is done I go home.

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