Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson has officially announced his retirement from mixed martial arts.
The 38-year-old broke the news at ONE 168: Denver and after taking to the cage for his highly anticipated ‘special announcement’, he said:
“First off, I want to say thank you so much to the fans. You guys have always been amazing to me to 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 2006-2024. It's been a long journey. Thank you to Matt. Thank you to my wife. Thank you to my children, my mother in law.
“You guys 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, the social media team. All you guys I really appreciate you. Thank you to Chatri for giving me the opportunity to display my martial arts on this platform.
“Like I said last time when I came here to Denver, Colorado, I told you guys, that was potentially my last fight. 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.
"Thank you to my dad. He's been in my life for the last eight years. He's been absolutely amazing. To my children, I love you guys. You guys are absolutely amazing. You guys do whatever you want in life as long as you guys are good people. My wife, I love you."
Over his 14 year professional career, Johnson competed 18 times in the UFC before heading to ONE Championship for the twilight of his competing years.
Widely considered the greatest to ever compete, ‘Mighty Mouse’ reigned as UFC champion for an astonishing 6 years. After claiming the title at UFC 152, he went on to defend the strap 11 times.
One of his most memorable wins was his defence against Ray Borg at UFC 216. As he suplexed Borg, Johnson transitioned to one of the slickest armbars in MMA history to force the tap.
After his loss to Henry Cejudo at UFC 227, Johnson joined ONE Championship, in a swap deal that saw Ben Askren move the other way.
After winning his first three fights under the ONE banner, ‘Mighty Mouse’ faced Adriano Moraes for the Bantamweight title. Johnson was stopped for the first time in his career as Moraes finished him in the second round.
He then faced, and beat Rodtang Jitmuangnon in a custom rule contest before avenging his loss to Moraes at ONE Fight Night 1 to earn Bantamweight gold before defending the belt in their trilogy bout.
