Demetrious Johnson walks away from MMA after legendary career
The majority of Johnson’s career took place in the UFC Octagon. Before becoming the UFC’s inaugural flyweight titleholder, Johnson made noise in the UFC bantamweight division, going the distance with Dominick Cruz and winning seven of his first eight fights overall.
Johnson won the inaugural UFC flyweight title by split decision over Joseph Benavidez at UFC 152. The aftermath was arguably the most dominant title reign in UFC history.
Johnson defended the title a record 11 consecutive times, including a one-sided rematch win over Benavidez in Dec. 2013. He defended the belt against the likes of Henry Cejudo, Kyoji Horiguchi, and John Dodson.
Johnson also clinched arguably the greatest submissions in UFC history over Ray Borg at UFC 216. He submitted Borg with a flying armbar in the closing minutes of the fight.
Johnson was the subject of the infamous UFC-ONE trade for multi-promotional champion Ben Askren in 2018. The trade came after a lengthy contract dispute with the UFC brass and a title loss to Cejudo.
Johnson won the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix by defeating Danny Kingad a year after the trade. A shocking knockout loss to Moraes in April 2021 preceded two of Johnson’s most dominant recent performances.
Johnson retires with a 25-4-1 professional MMA record. He made his professional debut in July 2006 in Auburn, Washington.
