Former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson hints at possibly retiring after his next fight

Former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson is regarded by many as the greatest flyweight of all time, but he hinted that the end could be near.

During his recent appearance on The MMA Hour, Johnson opened up about his upcoming trilogy fight with Adriano Moraes at ONE Fight Night 10 on May 5 and hinted that it could possibly be his last and that he will take the time to assess his future. He mentioned that retirement is definitely a possibility regardless of whether he wins, loses, or fights to a draw.

He said:

"There comes a point where how much more do I need to do? And I look at me peers that are kinda my generation like Khabib [Nurmagomedov] even Henry Cejudo. Like, I almost kinda got inspired by him the first time we trained together...Tyron Woodley, he's out there hustling. So, I feel that there has to come a point in time where I need to force myself."

'Mighty Mouse' also brought up that he has been in competition for a long time and has gone through the grind of training camps without taking a hiatus from the sport. The reigning ONE flyweight champion mentioned that he doesn't believe he will be a fighter that returns after retiring, saying:

"For me, I've been grinding, so I think if I do step away, I don't see myself coming [back] unless something just falls in my lap...Unless it's some God significant amount of number...and I'll tell everybody, 'This is why I'm coming back, boys. I couldn't pass it up. We back, here we are again.'"

It will be interesting to see what Johnson decides to do after his fight as he has already cemented his legacy as one of the greatest fighters of all time and is definitely worthy of a UFC Hall of Fame induction.

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How many times did Demetrious Johnson successfully retain the UFC flyweight championship?

Demetrious Johnson is undoubtedly the greatest flyweight champion in UFC history. For years, he dominated the weight-division and had some of the most memorable finishes in the promotion's history.

'Mighty Mouse' became the inaugural flyweight champion at UFC 152 after defeating Joseph Benavidez via split decision. From there, he went on to successfully defend his title on 11 occasions, which set a new record for title defenses in the promotion. Some of his wins included Kyoji Horiguchi, John Dodson, and Henry Cejudo.

Johnson's historic reign came to an end at UFC 227 in 2018, where he lost a split decision to Cejudo in their rematch. It marked the end of both his title reign and tenure with the promotion as he was traded to ONE Championship for Ben Askren.