Demetrious Johnson was tired of dealing with all the behind-the-scenes politics of MMA.
In September, ‘Mighty Mouse’ announced to the world that he was officially retiring from the sport of mixed martial arts after nearly two decades of dominance. Along the way, Johnson became the UFC’s first-ever flyweight champion and defended the title an incredible 11 times, the most consecutive title defenses in promotional history.
After being traded to ONE Championship, a first in the sport of MMA, Johnson picked up right where he left off, winning the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix tournament en route to capturing the ONE flyweight MMA championship via a spectacular flying-knee knockout of Adriano Moraes. Johnson fought Moraes once more, beating his Brazilian rival via unanimous decision to close out their iconic trilogy.
With nothing left to prove, Johnson walked away from the sport, announcing his retirement at ONE 168: Denver last year.
Johnson remains active in the gym, training and competing in jiu-jitsu tournaments, but he has repeatedly dismissed rumors of his potential return to the cage. During a recent interview with 1st Phorm, ‘Mighty Mouse’ shed some light on why he chose to retire despite still being one of the best in the world.
As it turns out, it was all the politics and media obligations that caused him to fall out of love with the sport.
“The thing that I fell out of love with with fighting was the politics,” Johnson said. “I fell out of love with just preparing, the press conferences, I didn’t care about that. I didn’t care about being the best in the world anymore. I just didn’t care. There comes a point in time I was like, is this it?
“Like is this what my life’s gonna; the sum of it. So that’s when I was like you know, I think I’m done. I’ve had enough. I want to see if I can make money using my intelligence and creating something that people can actually enjoy watching and I can do until I’m like 85-years-old.”
Demetrious Johnson stays busy with a variety of ventures
Though he still regularly competes at IBJJF tournaments, even topping the podium a time or two, the Kentucky native is enjoying his time away from the fight game by engaging in interviews, hosting podcasts, and growing his following on various social media platforms, including YouTube, where he has 1.2 million subscribers.
Johnson is also an avid gamer, regularly streaming Elden Ring, Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Fortnite.
