Demetrious Johnson ponders retirement ahead of latest title defense

Demetrious Johnson is set to defend his ONE Championship flyweight title next month in a trilogy bout against Adriano Moraes. The long-time UFC flyweight champion revealed that his next fight could possibly be his last.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani of The MMA Hour, 'Mighty Mouse' stated:

"It's definitely possible. Being 36, I sit down with the wife and the kids, and even my close friends, sometimes I sit there and think, 'how much more do I need to do? How much more do I want to do?'... I look at my peers that are kind of my generation, like Khabib or even Henry Cejudo, I almost kind of got inspired by him the first time we trained together."

He continued:

"I was like, 'you've been out for three years, how are you making a living?' He goes, 'I'm hustling. I'm making good money. I don't need to come back and fight. I'm coming back because I want to'.

"You look at Tyron Woodley, he's out there hustling. I feel that there has to come a point in time where I need to force myself. We relied on my body and athleticism to pay my bills. It's time to start looking at other avenues to bring in revenue."

Check out Demetrious Johnson's comments on retirement below:

Johnson shared that he plans to make his decision after vacationing following his latest title defense. He did note, however, that he has not lost his fire and passion for mixed martial arts.

'Mighty Mouse' claimed that if he does retire, he doesn't plan to return unless the payday is massive.

---

Demetrious Johnson believes Jon Jones could have claimed heavyweight title without the time off

Jon Jones made his highly-anticipated heavyweight debut at UFC 285 after three years away from the octagon. While he was able to become the heavyweight champion, Demetrious Johnson believes he did not need to take time off to claim the title.

During a recent appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, 'Might Mouse' stated:

"I honestly didn't think he had to put all that weight on to do what he just did... I'm happy to see he's back. I think he's the GOAT because of all the things he's been able to do... I think he didn't have to go up to heavyweight to do that. He could've did it at 205 and held both those belts. He could've been another champ-champ if he really wanted to. He looked great."

Check out Demetrious Johnson's comments on Jon Jones below:

Jones needed just over two minutes to submit Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 and become the 18th heavyweight champion in promotional history. Following the dominant performance, 'Bones' reclaimed the top spot in the pound-for-pound rankings.