UFC legend tears up as he announces retirement after career that rivals McGregor
Demetrious Johnson has called it quits.
The UFC icon and former ONE FC flyweight champion announced his retirement from MMA at ONE FC 168 in Denver, California on Friday night at the age of 38.
“First off I want to say thank you to the fans you guys have always been amazing to me and allowed me to live out my passion through martial arts,” he began his emotional retirement speech.
“Thank you to all my teammates from the very beginning back until 2006 up to 2024.”
Johnson then burst into tears as he thanked his coach Matt Hume and his family.
“Thank you to Matt,” he sobbed. “Thank you to my wife, thank you to my children, to my father-in-law, to my mother-in-law. F*** keep it together dog.
“Thank you to you guys, you have made me a better person. A better athlete.
“Thank you to my wife for always pushing me to pursue my dreams. Thank you to ONE Championship, the staff, the competition team, the social media team, thank you to Chatri [Sityodtong] for giving me the opportunity to display my martial arts on this platform.
“Like I said last time when I came to Denver, I told you guys it was potentially my last fight, and I was not lying.
“I am done. I am done competing in mixed martial arts, and I want to thank you guys so much for giving me the opportunity.
“And thank you to my dad he’s been in my life for the last eight years, he’s been amazing.
“To my children, I love you guys, you’re amazing, you can do whatever you want to do in life, my wife I love you.”
Johnson, the UFC’s inaugural and longest reigning flyweight champion, is widely considered to be one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time and has a résumé that rivals that of Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre and Conor McGregor.
After picking up the gold-encrusted strap by defeating Joseph Benavidez in the final of the 2012 UFC flyweight tournament, DJ went on to reign supreme over the 125lb division for 2,142 days.
Along the way, he broke the record for the most consecutive UFC title defences (11), Most submissions in UFC title fights (5) and the longest winning streak in UFC flyweight history (13).
Meanwhile, he also defeated several all-time greats including Henry Cejudo, Kyoji Horiguchi and Adriano Moraes (twice).
Johnson finished his career as ONE FC flyweight champion after scoring back-to-back wins against Moraes.
His final bow came in May 2023 when he defeated his Brazilian rival via unanimous decision in their rubber match at the 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, Colorado.
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