Emotional UFC legend bursts into tears as he announces retirement from the sport at age 38

3 months ago 27

UFC legend Demetrious Johnson broke down in tears after announcing his retirement from MMA.

Johnson is one of the greatest to ever step foot in the cage, reigning as flyweight and bantamweight champion in the UFC and ONE Championship.

a man with a beard is holding a microphone that says one

a man in a suit holds a microphone that says one on it

But he has now hung up his gloves following victory over Adriano Moraes in May – where he defended his 135lb ONE title.

Johnson walks away as champ and had to fight back tears as he announced his retirement on the mic in the cage.

He said: “I want to say thank you to all of my teammates from the very beginning back in 2006 all the way to 2024, it’s been a long journey.

“Thank you to Matt, thank you to my wife and my children, my mother in law.

“Thank you you guys, you have made me a better person, a better athlete, thank you to my wife for always encouraging me to pursue my passion, my dreams.

“Thank you to everybody at ONE Championship; the staff, the competition team, social media team, we appreciate you.

“Thank you to Chatri [ONE Championship’s owner] for giving me the opportunity to display my martial arts on this platform.

“Like I said last time, I sound like a damn mouse, when I came here to Denver, Colorado I told you guys that was potentially my last fight.

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“I was not lying, I am done competing in Mixed Martial Arts and I want to say thank you guys so much for giving me the opportunity. I appreciate you guys.”

Johnson, 38, made 11 UFC title defences before moving his career to Asia with ONE Championship.

But after six fight and five wins, the American great leaves as one of the best of all time and refused to give back his world title.

Johnson joked: “They wanted me to leave the belt in here, I ain’t doing that s***.

“I came into this sport as a champ, I’m leaving my black ass as a champ too!”