“Mighty Mouse” Mulls Retirement After Winning ONE Championship Trilogy Bout
ONE Championship’s first trip to US soil ended with Johnson again defeating the only man to ever knock him out. After knocking out Adriano "Mikhinho" Moraes on August 26th, 2022, Johnson ended the trilogy with a unanimous decision win on Friday night.
Leading up to his latest Flyweight title defense, many speculated that the 36-year old may hang up the gloves afterwards. When being interviewed after the fight, Johnson seemed uncertain whether he would retire.
“I gotta talk to my wife first and I’ll get back to you guys, okay? This is a behind closed doors discussion.”
“Mighty Mouse” asked the crowd if they think he should continue fighting, and the sold out 1STBANK Center answered with raucous approval.
ONE brought out Lightweight contender Kairat Akhmetov from the audience and proclaimed he would be Johnson’s next challenger. Johnson said he would be ready, but seemed to be skeptical that the fight would happen.
“The beautiful thing about this sport is, I can do what I please. I can walk off into the sunset, go home and talk business, see what happens.”
Johnson has been a champion in both ONE and the UFC, and defended his UFC title 11 times in his storied career. The only man with more in their career is the great Jon Jones. He also has wins over MMA legends Henry Cejudo and Joseph Benavidez.
The great news for Johnson is that his legacy is already cemented. If this really is the end, he will go down as the as the greatest Lightweight mixed martial artist of all-time.
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