- ‘Mighty Mouse’ has been taking antibiotics during training camps for bouts against Yuya Wakamatsu and Danny Kingad
- Diagnosis of small intestine bacterial overgrowth has seen his weight drop – ‘I’m just really, really small’
Demetrious Johnson is nicknamed "Mighty Mouse" for a reason.
The former UFC flyweight king (30-3) picked up his first taste of championship gold " or should we say platinum " in One Championship at the weekend. He dominated Danny Kingad on his way to a unanimous decision in the final of the flyweight grand prix at One: Century Part 1 in Tokyo.
It was his third victory since switching to One, and the first time he has fought three times in one year since 2013. Even more remarkably, the 33-year-old was on antibiotics during his past two training camps battling a serious intestinal condition.
"I'm getting adjusted to my diet, I've been on three rounds of antibiotics this training camp. And in the previous one we had antibiotics as well. I think I'm at the end of this whole battle," he told Ariel Helwani's MMA Show. "Then once I'm done with this, once I test for it again, I hope I get my weight back to where it should be, which is like 140 instead of walking around 136 pounds."
Johnson was diagnosed with small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) after his first One fight against Yuya Wakamatsu at A New Era in Tokyo on March 31.
Whatever sufferers eat is fermented and draws water into the intestines which causes bloating, pain and gas. Antibiotics are used to kill the bad bacteria.
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The American discovered he had the illness when he returned from One's Elite Athlete Retreat in Thailand, following A New Era, after ordering pizza with his family and eating six slices.
"Next thing you know, my stomach's just jacked up. And I was like, that's unusual, I'll eat whatever I want. Cinnamon Toast Crunch, whatever I want," he said. "I tried to clean up my diet, and it kept on just being painful, painful, painful.
"I'll go out to eat, have a big meal, all healthy and next thing you know I'm just passing gas like that. It didn't stink, just passing gas. So something's wrong, I've gotta go see a doctor. Did the stool sample, blood sample, all of that stuff and he said your body's having a hard time digesting carbohydrates. I talked to another doctor, they were like, 'How did this happen?' I was like, 'I don't know, just showed up'.
"I tested, got CIBO, they put me on antibiotics then I trained for Wakamatsu and fought in Manila. Came home, had some rib injuries, tested for CIBO again and it was still there. I'm like, 'What the …' So they said let's just hit you with every antibiotic we've got."
For his training camp ahead of the Kingad fight, Johnson took Xifaxan for 15 days, then Flagyl for 10 days, then herbal antibiotics for 30 days. He stopped taking antibiotics three days before the fight.
"I've been on antibiotics for a long damn time," he said. "Now I'm back home. I've gotta wait two weeks and then I test for CIBO. If it's still there then I go back on the antibiotics.
"So I'm hoping this time I'm done with CIBO, then I can start reintroducing things back into my diet, and get my weight back to normal because a day after the fight I woke up weighing 134.2 so my body … I'm just small right now, really, really small."
Johnson said the condition did not make him feel weaker while fighting, but that it did lead to injuries he usually doesn't suffer.
"I'm used to walking around at 142 pounds, now I'm walking 136. I feel like the last fight I got used to it, but I just like being bigger, it's nice to have a little more weight on," he said.
"Doing a knee battle with Danny against the cage, my ribs are bruised. I would have knee battles in the past and I wouldn't be bruised at all. When (Tatsumitsu) Wada got behind me and put me in a body triangle and I was twisting to get to him, I tore all the cartilage in my left rib. I just feel better when I'm heavier."
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