A line of UFC fans curved around the Student Commons Nov. 22 for the meet and greet with Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson.
The eleven-time defending flyweight champion held a private MMA training workshop, and a comprehensive training session to members of the Fitness Zone into his techniques and expertise.
“I think this one was pretty neat because he showed us some cool moves but he really broke it down,” said Jeremy Dawson, a second-year psychology student from Carleton University. “And then we actually got to ask him a bunch of questions. He was really good at explaining his thought process.”
After the workshop, in the Q&A portion of his visit, he talked about a variety of topics, like the “behind the scenes” of the UFC, answered questions from fans and even touched on his non-martial arts interests.
“I found his insight really interesting – like the reasons they sometimes don’t take fights, for example,” said Luca Furgiuele, an interactive multimedia development grad. “I loved that he was able to answer a variety of questions like talking about anime and obviously talking about MMA to talking about his passions.”
Others, like business administration alum Abdi Daghefali, who trains in martial arts watches a lot of Johnson’s techniques to learn and replicate them in his own fights.
“It was really good to have someone break down concepts,” said Daghefali. “There are a lot of instructors who show you good moves, but he came in and showed us concepts which was really eye-opening and helpful towards becoming a better version of myself.”
Johnson is one of the top pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC. His record is 27-2 with five vicious knockouts.