Demetrious Johnson Gets Honest On Homecoming, Why Retirement May Be Delayed

Widely regarded among combat sports fans as one of the most versatile and feared fighters in the lighter weight classes, Demetrious Johnson remains a fixture in the upper echelons of ONE Championship's flyweight division where he currently serves as its champion.

As ONE Fight Night 10 marked the promotion's first card in the US, it also acted as Johnson's homecoming bout after being traded by the UFC.

He pondered on his return following the event.

"The reception was amazing... It felt really good you know because I never thought in my lifetime that I'll still be competing at this age and be able to look outside the cage and see my kids. So that's, I'll remember to my heart," Johnson told reporters after the event.

"I love ONE Championship; I love the home of martial arts. I love being surrounded by so many great athletes with different disciplines, right?"

Johnson's last fight in the U.S. saw him drop the UFC flyweight title to Henry Cejudo by split decision.

Many were expecting a rematch to take place then, but then he got traded for Ben Askren in October 2018.

For someone who had not fought in front of his countrymen for nearly five years, the pressure to put on a show would have gotten to their head, but it was not the case for a mixed martial arts vet of Johnson's status.

"I believe in my skillset; I believe in my brand and I've always believed in myself. every single time I go out there and I give it my all. I'm always looking for the finish, so you know. And I didn't get it but I showed a lot of good clinch work, try to finish him (Adriano Moraes) you know using the shoulder shrug because he's a lot taller and he was trying to you know bear hug me so I was trying to pop him up," Johnson stated.

Entering his bout with flyweight rival Adriano Moraes for the division's title, many fans were concerned that they would be watching his final fight inside the cage.

Johnson did go on to successfully retain his flyweight title after coming out with a unanimous decision victory against rival Adriano Moraes in the main event of ONE Fight Night 10.

However, he said in the post-fight interview that retirement talks will be done under closed doors between him and his family.

"Mighty Mouse" noted that he will be talking to former UFC fighters Georges St-Pierre, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Urijah Faber when discussing his retirement plans.

For all his dominance inside the cage for the better part of 14 years, Johnson also showed that he does have a human side as well.

"I didn't have nightmares when I was getting ready to fight Adriano, I was having nightmares about what I'm gonna do after I'm done fighting. And so I like to listen to my feelings and try to understand why I'm having nightmares about what am I gonna do after fighting when I don't have an opportunity to train for," he mentioned.

"So that's where all these feelings harbor from."

With Johnson practically having nothing left to prove in the sport, one would think that he would lean more towards retiring at age 36.

He would later stress that while still does love fighting, "it takes a lot of energy away from other projects that can take care of me after I'm done fighting," which is why he remains conflicted.