Demetrious Johnson also known as the Mighty Mouse will go down in history as one of the greatest combat sports athletes and a MMA GOAT. The former UFC and One Championship Flyweight Champion is the greatest 125-pound fighter and arguably the greatest mind to step foot in the cage. He held many records that will be extremely tough to break over the years. DJ returned to cage for the first time since May of last year after defending his ONE flyweight title in Denver and announced his retirement from the sport at the One 168 event.
Demetrious Johnson gets emotional during retirement announcement
The legendary fighter got emotional while making the announcement of his retirement. He could not hold back his tears as he addressed the fans. DJ expressed his gratitude to his fans and teammates. He even thanked the One Championship promotion.
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“First off I want to say thank you to the fans. You guys have always been amazing to me as I live out my dreams and show my passion through martial arts. I want to say thank you to all of my teammates from the very beginning back in 2006 all the way to 2024, it’s been a long journey. Thank you to Matt, thank you to my wife and my children, my mother in law. Thank you you guys, you have made me a better person, a better athlete, thank you to my wife for always encouraging me to pursue my passion, my dreams. Thank you to everybody at ONE Championship; the staff, the competition team, social media team, we appreciate you,” said Johnson at One 168.
“Thank you to Chatri [ONE Championship’s owner] for giving me the opportunity to display my martial arts on this platform. Like I said last time, I sound like a damn mouse, when I came here to Denver, Colorado I told you guys that was potentially my last fight. I was not lying, I am done competing in Mixed Martial Arts and I want to say thank you guys so much for giving me the opportunity. I appreciate you guys. They wanted me to leave the belt in here, I ain't doing that sh*t. I came into this sport as a champ, I'm leaving my black ass as a champ too," he concluded.
Johnson was UFC's first Flyweight champion and had 11 title defences to his name, second most by a fighter only Jon Jones has more defences than him with 13. He was traded to One Championship for Ben Askren. He later won the title at that promotion as well and finally bid goodbye to the sport as a champion in a similar fashion to Khabib Nurmagomedov and GSP. He has now become the first inductee in the One Championship Hall of Fame.
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