Demetrious Johnson has achieved almost everything in his MMA career. The fans know the GOAT Flyweight fighter for his unbelievable movements in martial arts bouts. Also, his nickname ‘Mighty Mouse’ is one of the coolest nicknames in MMA. But where does it originate from?
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On The MMA Hour show, when MMA Fighting’s, Ariel Helwani suggested a ‘Mighty Mouse’ costume for Johnson in a future WrestleMania moment, Johnson didn’t jump on the idea.
Helwani, noticing his reaction, insinuated whether Johnson likes his nickname. Upon Johnson’s answer that he would rather prefer ‘Mighty’, Helwani asked about the origin of the nickname.
Thus, Johnson said, “It was my coach, coach friend Steve’s kids. He was my first coach.”
Johnson added, “At the gym, I was training; I was the smallest guy there. And I’ll be training with, you know, the middleweights, heavyweights, and I love superheroes comic books; And he was like your nickname is ‘Mighty Mouse’.”
Though Johnson accepted the nickname, he revealed how he really felt.
“I came up with it like my second amateur fight and never loved it… so it stuck,” concluded Johnson.
Often, nicknames become a fighter’s identity. However, Demetrious Johnson would like to tweak his nickname a little and use the revised version, i.e., change from ‘Mighty Mouse’ to ‘Mighty’.
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Johnson is already using ‘Mighty’ as his nickname wherever possible. His official YouTube channel has ‘Mighty Gaming’ as its name. Also, in his gaming, Demetrious Johnson prefers ‘Mighty’ over ‘Mighty Mouse’.
Demetrious Johnson wanted to change his nickname a long time ago
Many would not know, but this was not the first time that AMC Pankration fighter tried changing his nickname.
Before his historic UFC title bout, where he broke Anderson Silva‘s UFC title defense record, Johnson’s Reebok apparels saw only ‘Mighty’ written over them. Initially, fans thought that was a blunder on Reebok’s part. However, later, the flyweight GOAT had revealed he wanted only ‘Mighty’ on his shirt.
However, his wish of changing his name down the line was not fulfilled as the fans are attached to his nickname – ‘Mighty Mouse’. That said, considering all the work he has put in MMA, he should be able to get any nickname he desires.
What do you think of Demetrious Johnson’s remark on his nickname? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.