Khabib Nurmagomedov, Bisping, and UFC Stars Give Demetrious Johnson a Glowing Sendoff After Career Retirement

Demetrious Johnson just pulled off a Khabib/GSP-style retirement, walking into the sunset as a champion! After defending his ONE flyweight MMA gold at One Fight Night 10, ‘Mighty Mouse’ returned to the octagon for one last time this Saturday in Denver to announce his formal retirement from the sport. Reacting to the 38-year-old’s emotional farewell, the whole community came together with tributes.

The great Khabib Nurmagomedov, former UFC MW champion, Michael Bisping, and the current welterweight champion, Belal Muhammad, all tipped their hats to the all-time great as bid adieu to the sport.

While ‘The Eagle’ hailed DJ as one of the best to enter the octagon in an IG story post, Bisping gave props to the “legend” for his incredible career and wished him a happy retirement.

UFC welterweight Stephen Thompson also chimed in with a fitting post to pay his respects to the legend, lauding him as one of the greatest.

“One of the greatest to ever do it! I have learned and still learn so much from @MightyMouse! Congrats on a phenomenal career my friend!#legend.” 

On the other hand, WW champion, Belal Muhammad tagged the Johnson in his tweet congratulating the veteran for his illustrious career.

Johnson hasn’t competed in MMA for a year, focusing his efforts on international grappling tournaments after he settled the scores with rival Adriano Moraes during their flyweight title fight in December of last year.

Now with the ‘GOAT’ making his departure, let us take a moment to go through his incredible career that spanned across multiple promotions where he racked up titles after titles.

Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson – An icon to remember

In the beginning the future was obscure for Johnson who had no idea of what it was about to become after taking up MMA training as a hobby. But two years after stepping out into the sunlight, he was invited to Washington-based gym AMC Pankration where he met Matt Hume who organized for his MMA debut.

Kick-starting his MMA career on a winning note with an R1 KO, DJ kept the momentum, winning multiple fights to punch his ticket into WEC.

Though he lost his debut bout in the promotion against Brad Pickett, he showed excellent kickboxing but rebounded with two back-to-back wins to stay afloat.

And that’s when UFC bought WEC, merging the smaller promotion and thus transferring the fighters. Having competed as a bantamweight, a class above his natural weight, Johnson had to be a part of the UFC’s inaugural four-man flyweight tournament.

Despite a controversial start, Johnson reached the finals to face Joseph Benavidez at UFC 152 where he defeated the latter via split decision, becoming the first flyweight champion of the promotion.

What happened next is the stuff of legends, a folklore fans still talk about to this day. After capturing the belt, Johnson went on a tear, defending his title a whopping 11 times until he ran into Henry Cejudo in a rematch in 2018 at UFC 227.

In that same year, UFC and ONE FC struck a deal and Johnson was traded to ONE Championship for former ONE Welterweight Champion, Ben Askren. This is where the ‘GOAT’ spent the rest of his career.

Unfortunately, he got brutally KOed in the finale against Moraes but managed to avenge his loss a year later, returning the favor to the Brazilian KOing him with a flying knee to snatch his belt. Johnson also won the trilogy, settling the debate once and for all.

In a nutshell, DJ in his illustrious career fought the best of the best including Cejudo, Dominick Cruz, Muay Thai legend, Rodtang, and several more, showcasing his elite skill to cement his legacy as one of the sport’s greatest.