Demetrious Johnson introduced his retirement from preventing on Friday and it seems like he’s obtained two Corridor of Fame inductions in his future.
Simply after he revealed that he was calling it a profession, ONE Championship introduced that Johnson would function the inaugural member of the promotion’s Corridor of Fame. Now UFC CEO Dana White stated the identical for the UFC Corridor of Fame after studying that Johnson was retiring from the game.
“Yeah, I didn’t know that [he retired],” White stated about Johnson when talking to Grind Metropolis Media.
“Good for him. Unimaginable profession he had. I by no means had an issue with Demetrious Johnson. Completely [he’s a UFC Hall of Famer].”
Whereas Johnson’s announcement made the rounds on Friday, White truly didn’t hear the information till Saturday however he had nothing however glowing reward for the previous UFC flyweight champion.
Johnson was not solely the primary ever 125-pound champion within the UFC however he additionally holds the document for probably the most title defenses in promotion historical past with 11 straight. Johnson additionally holds the document for probably the most wins in UFC flyweight title fights with 12, probably the most UFC flyweight title fights with 13, probably the most submissions in UFC title fights with 5 and a laundry record of different accomplishments after spending seven years with the group.
His UFC run ended after Johnson was traded to ONE Championship in alternate for Ben Askren in a historic deal. Following the commerce, Johnson put collectively a powerful run in ONE as nicely capturing each the flyweight title and the ONE Flyweight Grand Prix title in addition to a victory over putting legend Rodtang Jitmuangon in a combined guidelines combat in 2022.
Whereas his profession ended elsewhere, White believes he was truly certainly one of Johnson’s largest supporters, particularly when he struggled to achieve acceptance from followers within the UFC.
“Hear in case you return to when he was right here, I used to be defending him from the followers,” White stated. “Who’s defended Demetrious Johnson greater than me?”
There’s no telling when Johnson may very well go into the UFC Corridor of Fame however it seems that’s positively going to occur in the future sooner or later now that he’s retired.
