Demetrious Johnson might be retired from professional MMA — but he’s still not someone you want to taunt inside a cage.
The former UFC flyweight king lost his cool during a sparring session with a YouTube fighter — and responded with a brutal head kick that left his opponent sprawled on the mat.
Johnson, 38, was filming content for his YouTube channel when things took a tense turn. He was mentoring two fighters from the viral brawling organisation Streetbeefs, known for its backyard-style grudge matches, when one of them — a character nicknamed Winged C — began mocking him mid-round.
In footage shared online, Winged C is heard repeatedly calling Johnson ‘good boy’ — a jibe that appeared to spark a rare flash of rage in the MMA great.
‘He kept saying good boy,’ Johnson said afterwards. ‘Does he realize I’m f***ing 38 years old and have done this for 20 f***ing years?
‘I was about to go to a little f***ing dark place… They’re always clip farming. It just f***ing pissed me off.’
UFC legend Demetrious Johnson (left) nailed Streetbeefs fighter Winged C with a head kick
Seconds later, Johnson launched a devastating head kick that dropped his opponent on the spot. After collecting himself on the ground, Winged C grinned and said: ‘That’s the clip, that’s the clip shot.’
But the reaction from outside the cage pushed Johnson over the edge.
Death Sentence, the other Streetbeefs fighter, had been watching the sparring closely and chimed in: ‘Wait Mighty Mouse, Mighty Mouse… if that was a real MMA fight…’
He didn’t get to finish his thought.
‘Shut the f*** up!’ Johnson snapped, pointing at him furiously. ‘Shut up. The show’s over. The clowning is over. You want to get good? Or you want to keep up this circus act? Because I don’t want to waste my f***ing time with this clown show s***.’
Johnson, one of the most technically gifted fighters in MMA history, then delivered a passionate lecture about what the fight game meant to him — and what it should mean to others.
‘I’m very passionate about fighting. I’m very passionate about getting people better. But I’m not passionate about trying to look for clips and s***. When I started training 18 years ago, it was about the f***ing money. It wasn’t about f***ing clips and views. You guys live in a different generation. That’s why you call me “Unc”. Yes I am. Now f***ing train.’
Pointing again at Winged C, he warned: ‘He’s been knocked out the same way. When he’s 40 he won’t be able to put together a sentence.’
The kick sent Winged C to the ground, although he was grinning soon after getting to his feet
Demetrious Johnson expressed his frustration with the lack of professionalism around him
Later in the video, Death Sentence was filmed speaking one-on-one to camera. Reflecting on the moment, he said: ‘It was f**ing embarrassing. It was like a dad yelling at his son for doing too much.’*
Johnson, known in MMA circles as Mighty Mouse, retired from professional competition in September last year, ending a legendary career that saw him crowned champion in both the UFC and ONE Championship.
He was the UFC’s inaugural flyweight champion and held the belt from 2012 to 2018, defending it a record 11 times before losing a controversial split decision to Henry Cejudo. He later moved to ONE Championship in a rare trade deal that sent Ben Askren in the opposite direction.
Since retiring, Johnson has become a content creator and mentor.
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UFC legend drops YouTube fighter with BRUTAL head kick after becoming enraged by opponent taunting him