UFC Hall of famer and the reigning ONE Championship flyweight world champion Demetrious Johnson has apparently just started arranging to have a friendly grappling match with bodybuilder Bradley Martyn. While it wouldn’t be the first time that Johnson has taken on a crazy challenge, it’s certainly the biggest weight difference he’s faced as Martyn is around reportedly around 265lbs. While Martyn is firmly a white belt in BJJ, he isn’t completely without experience and has actually rolled before. A friendly grappling match between them would definitely be interesting, and would help answer the age-old question of whether technique alone is enough to beat a significant size advantage at the very least.
The discussion all started when Bradley Martyn appeared on an episode of Real Talk with Brendan Schaub and was asked by the host about his chances in a fight against Demetrious Johnson, and the bodybuilder said “150 pounds is like a towel to me” before adding that he would “crush his head on the floor.” Since then Johnson has made an appearance on the debut episode of GOATCast, the new podcast from fellow UFC legend Henry Cejudo, and he had this to say on the matter:
“It’s funny, you know. He’s 265 pounds, he’s a bodybuilder, so obviously he has got the weight advantage. But at the end of the day, that’s the beautiful thing about grappling. It’s not about weight, it’s about technique, and we’re going to try to grapple.”
If anyone can overcome such a gigantic weight difference then it’s going to be someone like Johnson, who’s incredibly talented and constantly developing his skills even further. He’s even started to arrange a meeting with Martyn too:
“I told Brendan Schaub that I want to make it happen. I’m busy doing other things right now, but when I get back from all my vacation I’m going to fly down to Calabasas and we’re gonna roll, man. I’m gonna roll him up.”
The relevant clip from the conversation with Demetrious Johnson where he talks about his plans to grapple bodybuilder Bradley Martyn was posted to the official Twitter account of Bloody Elbow:
Mighty Mouse confirms he will be flying to Cali to roll with YouTuber Bradley Martyn pic.twitter.com/Gx2GtNEleL
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) August 10, 2023