Demetrious Johnson undecided on fighting future: “I have to be passionate about it”

Demetrious Johnson may or may not be heading into imminent retirement.

The reigning ONE flyweight world champion has long teased his plans of stepping away from good, but Johnson has yet to officially announce if he’s truly retiring from mixed martial arts.

In an interview with MMA Junkie, the MMA legend said he doesn’t want to stay in the sport just for competition's sake.

Johnson said:

“Whether it’ll be competition, or, I mean, like I said, I haven’t even given a final say yet, you know. I’ve talked about it here and there about the whole situation, about me competing again. I mean I have to be passionate about it. I don’t wanna do it, just to do it. For me, we just haven’t really decided what’s next.”

‘Mighty Mouse’ is undoubtedly the best flyweight of all time, and he’s often considered to be among the greatest fighters to have ever lived.

Johnson built an empire in the UFC, where he set the promotion’s record for most consecutive world title defenses by defended the UFC flyweight world title 11 straight times.

After building an invulnerable legacy in the United States, Johnson moved to ONE Championship, where he's proceeded to add more hardware to his already esteemed collection.

Despite his iconic status in the sport, Johnson chose to work his way up the flyweight ladder and went through the gauntlet in his first three fights.

Johnson, though, absolutely dominated the competition and captured the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix title when he beat Danny Kingad in the tournament final in October 2019.

Although Johnson fell short in his first match against Adriano Moraes for the flyweight throne, he bounced back and knocked out the Brazilian star to claim the ONE flyweight world title at ONE on Prime Video 1.

Johnson then retained the gold in his trilogy match against Moraes at ONE Fight Night 10 in Colorado.

Watch Johnson's entire interview below: