"Thank you for being you" - Legends, current fighters give Demetrious Johnson his flowers after near-mythic MMA career

Once-in-a-generation MMA star Demetrious Johnson received great praise from his peers after he announced his retirement from MMA at ONE 168: Denver last Friday, Sept. 6, inside the Ball Arena.

The inaugural inductee to the ONE Championship Hall of Fame posted snippets of his retirement speech and his backstage interactions with ONE Championship officials on Instagram:

Former UFC women's bantamweight champion Holly Holm and UFC featherweight star Brian Ortega wrote respectively in the comments section:

"It's been an honor to watch you perform. Congratulations on your retirement champ!"

"Thank you for being you."

Fourth-ranked ONE flyweight MMA competitor Reece McLaren commented:

"@mighty happy retirement mate!!! 🐐🙌🙌🙌"

10-time Muay Thai and kickboxing world champion John Wayne Parr hilariously pointed out Johnson's many voice cracks throughout his retirement speech:

"It must of been the high altitude that made your voice go a little high at times. Congratulations on [an] amazing career sir 🥋."

MMA legend Bas Rutten and Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) icon Andre Galvao chimed in respectively:

"You're amazing DJ, what a career!! OSU"

"Legend 👏👏👏👏 thank you for all you've done in the sport...thank you for all the great performances🙏✨❤️"

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Demetrious Johnson opens up on his keys to greatness

Being the only fighter ever to hold world championships in both ONE Championship and the UFC, Demetrious Johnson reflected on his journey to becoming an all-time great during the ONE 168: Denver post-event press conference.

'Mighty Mouse' stated:

"There are a lot of guys who get to my status, you know, eight to nine title defenses, and they're like 'I want this much money.' And don't get me wrong, I did a little bit of that as well. But I always showed up when I fought. So I would say hard worker, great athlete, and a good student."

Watch the full video below (20:25):