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Mixed martial arts legend and former ONE flyweight MMA world champion and UFC champion 'Mighty Mouse' Demetrious Johnson made headlines at ONE 168: Denver a few weeks ago with the announcement of his retirement from pro-MMA competition.
Johnson has been widely considered one of, if not the greatest of all time in MMA and has been a dominant force for a decade. However, the key thing with Johnson's retirement is that he's exiting the game at the peak of his powers.
'Mighty Mouse' knows this, as does ONE Championship chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong, who advised the legend to preserve his walking off into the sunset.
Johnson and Sityodtong shared a moment backstage at ONE 168: Denver.
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Sityodtong told his former flyweight MMA champ:
"It's a perfect fairytale. Don't f**king ruin it. Don't come back at all. It's perfect. Everyone would remember you, like it's so hard - like GSP - how do you go out on top? On top top. The temptation’s always there. 'I can still do it. I can still do it.' But the minute you lose, you're like 'I can do it. I can do it.' And then you start chasing the win, and then your skills [go down], you had three losses in a row, and, you know."
Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action of ONE 168: Denver via replay on demand with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
Demetrious Johnson on retiring in the ONE Circle: "I didn't think it was going to be that emotional"
'Mighty Mouse' Demetrious Johnson wanted to do things his own way when he announced his retirement, give a speech in front of millions of fans, and walk away from the cage with his head held high.
Instead, the tears started flowing almost immediately, and the American legend spoke in a high-pitched voice, trying to fight back the emotion.
'Mighty Mouse' told the media at ONE 168: Denver:
"I'm not gonna lie to you, I didn't think it was going to be that emotional. I didn't think it was going to be emotional, to be honest with you."
