“I’ve done that for 20 f****** years” - American legend Demetrious Johnson fully content with being a family man after MMA retirement

MMA legend and former ONE flyweight world champion Demetrious Johnson said he is at peace with his decision to retire from the sport and has no urge to return to competition anytime soon.

'Mighty Mouse' reiterated this in an interview with MMA Fighting in November last year, highlighting that he is settling well in life after an illustrious fighting career and enjoying his time with family and other passions.

Johnson said:

"I’d rather sit here in my office, in my beautiful home with my beautiful children, be able to go to their football games, be able to take time to his jiu-jitsu tournaments and his jiu-jitsu classes, be at my daughter’s gymnastics and keep on doing the Mighty Cast and looking for guests and start building my studio for the road. I mean, that sounds way more enjoyable than fighting. I’ve done that for 20 f****** years."

Check out what he had to say below:

Demetrious Johnson officially announced his retirement in Sept. 2024 during ONE's second live on-ground event in Colorado, U.S.A. But before that, he was no longer actively pursuing MMA matches. By retiring, he vacated the ONE flyweight world title.

Of late, there were attempts to lure him back to MMA but he has been firm about his decision and has expressed no interest in returning.

Demetrious Johnson says decision to retire was not easy to make

While he is now content with his decision to retire from MMA, Demetrious Johnson said how he arrived at it was not easy. That was why it took a while for him to make things final.

He made this known during the post-event press conference for ONE 168: Denver, where he made his retirement official, relaying that he had to force himself to take MMA out of his system.

The former ONE flyweight world champion said:

"So, I made it upon myself, my New Year's resolution this year was like I'm gonna force myself not to fight. Like I need to start using my brain, my intellect, my charisma, my creativity to start making money and building my brand."

Demetrious Johnson built his MMA legend through the course of 17 years, the last five spent in ONE Championship, where he dominated the flyweight lane.