Khabib Nurmagomedov pays tribute to UFC great Demetrious Johnson following emotional retirement speech
Demetrious Johnson did not compete at ONE 168 but grabbed the headline of the night on Sept. 6 when he announced his retirement from MMA in between fights. With his announcement, Johnson received an overwhelming amount of warm regards from the community.
Khabib Nurmagomedov was among those showering Johnson with high praise, calling 'Mighty Mouse' "one of the best" fighters of all time. Nurmagomedov sent his message to the 38-year-old on his Instagram story, while sharing a post about Johnson's retirement from ESPN MMA.
Nurmagomedov wrote:
"One of the best who ever did this. @mighty"
Johnson announced his retirement during the ONE 168 fight card broadcasted on Amazon Prime Video just minutes before the catchweight bout between Shamil Erdogan and Aung La N Sang. At the time of his announcement, he served as the active ONE Championship flyweight MMA champion, a title he held since August 2022.
Nurmagomedov and Johnson briefly crossed over as simultaneous UFC champions in 2018, with the former winning the lightweight title in April and the latter seeing his six-year reign end four months later. Johnson was then traded to ONE Championship for the rights to Ben Askren following his loss to Henry Cejudo.
Khabib Nurmagomedov's UFC retirement
Like Demetrious Johnson, Khabib Nurmagomedov is one of the few fighters in MMA history who retired at the peak while still owning a championship belt. However, while Johnson's career rightfully came to a close at age 38, many felt that Nurmagomedov still had some left in him at the time of his announcement.
'The Eagle' still has one of the most memorable retirements in the UFC when he declared that he would no longer fight after submitting Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. He left the sport as the only fighter to retire as an undefeated UFC champion with a 29-0 record.
Nurmagomedov left his career behind at just 32 years old, declaring in his post-fight speech that he promised his mother that he would no longer continue. The Dagestani entered UFC 254 in the only fight of his career without his father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, who passed due to COVID-19.