Demetrious Johnson is looking ahead at his eventual retirement after a long and successful career in MMA.
Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson will go down as the best flyweight to have ever fought in MMA. After a long and successful UFC career, Johnson made a change and signed on with ONE Championship. He has been with ONE Championship for two and a half years now. His career is still going strong, but the 34-year-old can’t help but look at the timeline of his career and when he is planning on hanging up his gloves.
“I think that’s the most important part, having an end in sight,” Johnson said to Fightful.com. “You see some of these athletes just fight forever and ever and ever. For me, I’m 34-years-old. I would love to be finished fighting within four years [at] 38-years-old. I don’t foresee myself jumping back over to a North American promotion. I can’t predict the future, but as of now, I’m very happy with ONE Championship. I’m very happy where I’m competing at and I look forward to the future.”
Even though 34 years old might seem young, and some fighters don’t really get going until later in their careers, Johnson has accomplished so much. He began fighting professionally at just 20 years old. When he came into the UFC in 2011, he immediately showed that he was one of the best in the world. He holds the record for most title defenses during his six-year reign at the top of the 125-pound division. When he left the UFC it seemed that any additional action fans could see out of Johnson was a bonus.
“Three or four years. I don’t want to be fighting until I’m 39 or 40,” Johnson explained. “I’ve been fighting since I was 18. I feel like 18 to 38 that’s 20 years in the game. That’s 20 years of competing and being an athlete… As you get older, there is no point in taking shots to the face and getting concussions. The potential of getting knocked out, all that stuff. There is no point in risking that anymore.”
Even though he may have a retirement plan, Johnson is very much still in the prime of his fight career. Since coming to ONE Championship, he has win three in a row and shows no sign of slowing. He is set to make that fourth walk of April 7 at ONE on TNT 1 against Adriano Moraes.
What is your favorite moment of Demetrious Johnson’s long and sucessful career so far?
