“A great guy” - Daniel Cormier pays tribute to Demetrious Johnson in light of retirement at ONE 168: Denver

Tributes continue to pour in for newly retired ONE Championship superstar Demetrious Johnson. One of the more recent was from fellow MMA legend Daniel Cormier.

'DC', who, like 'Mighty Mouse' was a champion in the UFC, shared his thoughts on the career that Johnson had and the individiual that he is on ESPN MMA's Good Guy/Bad Guy podcast with Chael Sonnen, highlighting how he did it the right way.

Cormier said:

"He's [Johnson] a great guy that truly deserves all the credit and accolades and everything he's going to get in this next phase of his career."

Check out what he had to say below, beginning at 30:07:

Demetrious Johnson officially called it a career in MMA in a ceremony at ONE 168. The event took place inside the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A., on Sept. 6. It ended the long speculation of his MMA exit, having last fought in it in May last year also in Colorado.

The 38-year-old American flyweight fighter compiled an overall record of 25 wins and four losses, with his last six of victories coming in ONE Championship, where he spent the last five years of his illustrious career.

While he will no longer be competing in MMA, he said fans can still see him in jiu-jitsu competitions, where he has been a steady fixture the past year. Interestingly, he said he is open to competing in ONE again, although in submission grappling.

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Brandon Moreno looking forward to seeing Demetrious Johnson excel in BJJ

Another UFC fighter who wished Demetrious Johnson good luck in his next journey was former flyweight champion Brandon Moreno, who also expected good things for 'Mighty Mouse' in his new passion of Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

'The Assassin Baby' expressed his well wishes for the newly retired ONE Championship superstar in an interview with Hablemos MMA on Sept. 9, three days after Johnson made his MMA retirement official, saying:

"All the best to him [Johnson]. He's now doing a career as a jiu-jitsu fighter. He competed in the world masters a few weeks ago in Las Vegas. He was very close to getting gold. He's got tons of energy left, maybe not in professional MMA, because he's already done a lot for the sport, but we'll continue to see him."

Watch the interview below:

Demetrious Johnson said that among the things he is keeping himself busy with moving forward is BJJ, where he has had a lot of success since he started competing in it last year.

The full replay of ONE 168 is available on demand for Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.