“He’ll still be part of ONE” - Chatri Sityodtong on why it was important to honor Demetrious Johnson with respectful retirement ceremony

ONE Championship chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong respects Demetrious Johnson's decision to retire from MMA but believes it was very important to give him a legendary sendoff.

'Mighty Mouse' announced his retirement from mixed martial arts last weekend, when ONE Championship returned to Denver, Colorado for ONE 168, which took place at Ball Arena.

ONE put on quite a retirement ceremony for the legendary fighter, and things got very emotional very quickly.

Speaking to media at the official ONE 168: Denver press conference backstage, Sityodtong talked about Johnson's retirement speech.

He said:

"That was one of the things, you know, out of respect to DJ. Even though we knew this months ago, we decided to not make the title vacant, or whatever. We did hold up the division, so I’m sorry to all the flyweights. But now you kind of understand why we still have the flyweight division down because we wanted to give DJ the most beautiful moment out. But he’ll still be part of ONE, he’ll still be part of ONE, for sure."

With Johnson out of the flyweight picture, it remains to be seen what the future holds for the ONE flyweight MMA world title.

Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action of ONE 168: Denver via replay on demand on Amazon Prime Video.

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Chatri Sityodtong wanted to make Demetrious Johnson's retirement 'a magical memory' that will 'last a lifetime'

The entire MMA community was shocked by Demetrious Johnson's decision to retire from the sport, especially since he is still considered by many to be the best flyweight MMA fighter in the world today.

Going out at the height of your powers isn't common in MMA, but Johnson has accomplished more than any of his peers and is walking away at just the right time.

Sityodtong knows the magnitude of this moment, which is why he wanted to honor Johnson with a proper farewell in the Circle.

He said:

"We wanted to make it a magical memory. That’s something we always talk about at ONE, of course we have the greatest fighters on the planet like Liam and DJ, the world’s best of the best. But, one of our ethos is we wanna create magical moments that last a lifetime for our fans. So we hope that tonight was a magical memory for everyone with their families and their kids."