September 27, 2011 – In this increasingly clichéd world of professional prize fighting, we often hear combatants speak of how they want to put on their proverbial hard hats and go to work. That type of statement is very commonplace as fighters refer to training or the fights themselves. What isn’t commonplace is when fighters talk about actually taking the hard hats off. Yet for bantamweight title challenger Demetrious Johnson, that’s exactly the type of scenario he found himself in leading up to his Saturday showdown with champion Dominick Cruz.
A full-time construction worker for the duration of his MMA career, the man known as “Mighty Mouse” only recent decided to put away his hard hat in preparation for this bout.
“I am not working full-time anymore,” Demetrious recently mentioned in reference to his former career. “I gave that up once I got the call that I was going to be fighting Dominick. This is a title fight and a big fight and I owe it to the fans to train full-time.”
For now, gone are the days of running industrial machines, driving forklifts and carrying scrap metal for what he described as very much a labor-intensive job. Instead, what’s replaced it is the ability to focus 110% on the task at hand – earning the UFC 135 belt at the expense of “The Dominator.”
For Cruz, this level of preparation free of distractions makes a world of difference even though he’s managed to get by Miguel Torres, Kid Yamamoto, and Damacio Page in his last three fights all while juggling a full-time job.
“When I broke my leg in the Miguel Torres fight, I was back to work that following Monday. That’s just what I had to do like I did before and after all my other fights. Now I can focus on training 110% and I hope it pays off. I’m hoping it will make a huge difference. Before this change, I barely got any rest in between working and training. Now instead of waking up to go to work, I’m waking up to go to the gym get my swimming, running, and lifting in. Then I can home and rest before coming back to do cross-fit or train. I feel a huge improvement and my strength is a lot higher. I’m full of confidence and ready to go out there.”
Preparing for this title opportunity with training partners like Matt Hume and Bibiano Fernandes, “Mighty Mouse” is in for the challenge of his life, and one where oddsmakers see him as a huge 5-1 underdog. “It’s the way the world sees me, he said. “It’s the story of my life. Every fight I go into, it seems like I’m the underdog. It doesn’t bother me. I’m going to show the world what I got.”
Adding to his perspective of the situation, Demetrious says he’s treating this like… well… just another day at work.
“There’s no added pressure. I’m looking at it like any other fight and keeping my emotions in check. I appreciate the opportunity. This is a hard fight but I’m not psyching myself out. I’m just going to go out there and perform. Dominick is a puzzle that hasn’t been solved and he’s a great champion but I’m going to do my best to stick to my game plan and go after it.
In MMA, there’s always that saying that you’re one loss away from everybody forgetting your name. It’s always in the back of my head that I might be back working one day (in construction) but for now, what do I have to lose. I’m going to go out there and try to make a name for myself.”
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