Demetrious Johnson announces his RETIREMENT from MMA – as the former UFC champion steps away from the sport as one of the all-time greats

Demetrious Johnson’s illustrious career in mixed martial arts has come to an end.

At ONE 168, the 38-year-old took to the cage in his hometown of Denver, Colorado to announce that he is stepping away from the sport in an emotional speech.

After making his professional debut in 2009 following an undefeated stint as an amateur Johnson would go on to compile a record of 25 wins and four losses with one draw inside the cage.

On Friday Johnson became the first inductee in the ONE Championship Hall of Fame, and gave thanks to those who had helped him on his journey.

‘Thank you to you guys, you guys that made me a better person, a better athlete,’ Johnson said. 

Demetrious Johnson has announced that he is retiring from mixed martial arts

The 38-year-old is widely considered to be the greatest flyweight fighter of all time

Johnson defended his 125lbs title 11 times in the UFC Octagon between 2013 and 2017

‘Thank you to my wife for always encouraging me to pursue my passions, my dreams. Thank you to everybody in ONE Championship, the staff, the competition team, the social media team, all you guys I appreciate you. 

‘Thank you to Chatri [Sityodtong – ONE president] for giving me the opportunity to display my martial arts on this platform. And yeah, guys like, like I said last time when I came here to Denver, Colorado, I told you guys that was potentially my last flight, and I was not lying like I am done. 

‘I am done competing in mixed martial arts. And I want to say thank you guys so much for giving me the opportunity.’

Johnson is most notable for his time in the UFC, arriving in the promotion following the WEC merger in 2011.

After victories over Kid Yamamoto and Miguel Torres Johnson would earn his first shot at gold against Dominick Cruz, performing admirably considering a significant size difference en route to a five-round decision defeat.

Once the UFC announced they would establish a 125lbs weight class, however, Johnson was off to the races.

Starting his career at flyweight with a draw against Ian McCall, Johnson would emerge victorious in the rematch before capturing the gold and embarking on one of the most dominant title reigns in UFC history.

Between 2013 and 2017 Johnson would defend his title 11 times, with the run including a last-second submission of Kyoji Horiguchi and and a first-round TKO against Henry Cejudo.

His run as champion would come to an end in 2018 following a contentious decision loss to Henry Cejudo

After leaving the UFC Johnson would go on to further success in ONE Championship

In 2018 Johnson and Cejudo would meet again at UFC 227, with the Olympic gold medallist this time getting his hand raised by the narrowest of margins on the judges’ scorecards.

Despite holding multiple records in the UFC, Cejudo would later be involved in the biggest promotional swap deal in MMA history as he joined ONE with Ben Askren going the other way.

After debuting in the Singapore-based promotion Johnson’s dominance did not wane, with a lone KO loss to Adriano Moraes avenged twice over.

Johnson’s final in-cage outing came in May of last year, as he defeated Moraes in their trilogy bout to retain the ONE flyweight title.