For many, longtime pound for pound king Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson is the hands down favorite to win the upcoming ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix and for good reason.
Johnson dominated the North American flyweight scene, being a World Champion there for six straight years as he built a good case for himself as one of the greatest mixed martial artists to ever step into the cage.
While his feat is very impressive, former ONE Flyweight World Champion Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio believes that Johnson is beatable, in fact, he is already pegging his stablemate Danny “The King” Kingad to prove his claim.
“They say DJ is the best, but that is in the West. We do not know what is waiting [for him] here in the East. Flyweight is a strong division for Asian athletes.” said Eustaquio, who believes Kingad can overcome Johnson should they meet in the tournament.
“Danny is young, hungry and promising. Anything can happen inside the cage. This is mixed martial arts,” Eustaquio stated.
But before they get to face each other, they have to overcome their respective brackets first.
Both warriors will be opening their Grand Prix campaign at ONE: A NEW ERA on 31 March in Tokyo, Japan with Kingad taking on former ONE Bantamweight World Title contender Andrew Leone and Johnson going toe to toe with Yuya Wakamatsu.
Reece McLaren and Kairat Akhmetov complete Kingad’s bracket while Tatsumitsu Wada and Ivanildo Delfino round up Johnson’s bracket.
Since losing in his first World Title shot to Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes back in November 2017, Kingad has now strung together four consecutive wins in impressive fashion.
With the 23-year-old continuing to improve, Eustaquio will be the last person to be surprised if Kingad manages to win the tournament, even against Johnson.
“I’ve seen Danny grow and develop as an athlete as we both train inside the Team Lakay gym almost every day. I’m confident with his skills and talent that he will come out victorious in this tournament,” Eustaquio said.
“Johnson cannot guarantee a sure win over Danny because my teammate can give him the biggest upset of his lifetime.