MMA icon Demetrious Johnson has achieved some of the highest points the sport has to offer, and now he's preparing to share that knowledge with the world in a much safer career.
In an exclusive interview with The U.S. Sun, the 37-year-old UFC legend and current ONE Championship Flyweight champ opened up on what business ventures he has lined up as he enters the "back end" of his career.
Johnson began combat sports at a young age as a wrestler in high school before starting his amateur career in 2006 and going professional in 2010.
The 15-time World MMA Champion joined the UFC shortly after in 2011 and had a legendary stint, becoming the inaugural Flyweight Champion.
Johnson spent seven years in the UFC and set a record with 11 title defenses, surpassing MMA superstar Anderson Silva's 10.
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He left the UFC in 2018 for ONE Championship after being traded and has remained with the organization since.
Fast forward to today, Johnson is the flyweight champion of the company but understands his last days in the sport are near and is setting the pathway for his next career behind the microphone as a content creator.
Johnson has a YouTube channel with 470,00 subscribers and a podcast where he interviews fighters in addition to videos where he creates informative MMA content with reaction videos and fight breakdowns for fans.
He also recently opened an OnlyFans to share "a different side to how the madness works" and the "evolution of his brand."
"It's just me getting ready for the back end of my career. I've always wanted to build my brand," he said.
"I've always streamed on Twitch and now YouTube for nine years, and I think this is kinda the evolution of my brand just building.
"It gives my fans a different side to how the madness works essentially of my life and what keeps me so busy, and, I think, successful."
Johnson has spent years fighting the top MMA fighters worldwide and traveling globally. He expressed that analyzing fights without leaving his residence was a driving factor in starting to get more into media and content creation.
"I love breaking down fights, and the good thing about me breaking down my fights is I can do it from the house next to the wife and the kids.
"I have a beautiful studio downstairs, two studios actually. One dedicated to the sit down to be able to use my hands and angles and another studio to do high-quality interviews on the podcast and whatnot."
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However, despite the elaborate home setup, he didn't rule out commenting on live matches for a company, although he openly admitted he never envisioned himself in a media space.
"If the brand ever gets that big that I might be commentating for One Championship or other organizations down the line, then we will make it happen.
"I'm not a journalist. I'm a content creator. I think following the fights, interviewing, and doing podcasts with people. No, I never perceived myself doing that.
"But I actually truly enjoy, and we have a great time creating the content."
Despite being an MMA legend, Johnson shared a similar gripe that most media members face and joked that he hates having to book a guest for his show because you have to "line up" schedules.
Johnson's last fight was in March 2023 in a trilogy victory against Adriano Moraes for the One Championship flyweight title, and he currently does not have a next match lined up, but fans can catch him online in the meantime.
