One Championship: Demetrious Johnson reveals battle with serious health condition for past two fights
- ‘Mighty Mouse’ has been taking antibiotics during training camps for bouts against Yuya Wakamatsu and Danny Kingad
- Diagnosis of small intestine bacterial overgrowth has seen his weight drop – ‘I’m just really, really small’
Demetrious Johnson is nicknamed “Mighty Mouse” for a reason.
The former UFC flyweight king (30-3) picked up his first taste of championship gold – or should we say platinum – in One Championship at the weekend. He dominated Danny Kingad on his way to a unanimous decision in the final of the flyweight grand prix at One: Century Part 1 in Tokyo.
It was his third victory since switching to One, and the first time he has fought three times in one year since 2013. Even more remarkably, the 33-year-old was on antibiotics during his past two training camps battling a serious intestinal condition.
“I’m getting adjusted to my diet, I’ve been on three rounds of antibiotics this training camp. And in the previous one we had antibiotics as well. I think I’m at the end of this whole battle,” he told Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. “Then once I’m done with this, once I test for it again, I hope I get my weight back to where it should be, which is like 140 instead of walking around 136 pounds.”
Johnson was diagnosed with small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) after his first One fight against Yuya Wakamatsu at A New Era in Tokyo on March 31.