Demetrious Johnson shares valuable lesson he learned from Urijah Faber about retirement

ONE flyweight world champion Demetrious Johnson is still contemplating a possibly life-altering decision on whether to hang up his gloves for good or keep fighting professionally.

In order to come to a conclusion about what’s best for himself and his family, “Mighty Mouse” said that he would consult some legends who have successfully walked into the sunset.

Among those big names is his good friend Urijah Faber, who is now exploring other career ventures since his retirement in 2019.

Turns out, ‘The California Kid’ gave him one hell of an advice about the perils of staying in the game for too long.

‘DJ’ shared this nugget in an interview with MMA Junkie:

“I even talked to Urijah Faber about this stuff, he says ‘Sometimes we’re so loyal to our craft, that it gets us in trouble.’ So we gotta step out of our craft and look at other things that can, you know, take care of you."

Watch the full interview:

Faber, of course, is considered a pioneer for the lighter-weight divisions in mixed martial arts, which was predominantly ruled by hulking figures in the past.

While they never became opponents throughout their respective illustrious careers, Faber and Johnson developed a mutual bond over the years.

Johnson eventually finished what Faber started, opening more doors for smaller fighters throughout his consistent run which oozed excellence and dominance in North America, right up to his move to ONE Championship.

In fact, Faber was even in the same building at 1stBank Center in Denver, Colorado, when Johnson retained his flyweight throne by besting Adriano Moraes in their trilogy at ONE Fight Night 10.

The Team Alpha Male head coach cornered Sage Northcutt in the same card and exchanged some wisdom with arguably one of the greatest fighters of all time.

The entire ONE Fight Night 10 spectacle is available for replay free of charge for those with an existing Prime Video subscription in North America.