UFC Hall of Fame inductee "Defends 11 consecutive titles... "A phenomenal legend"

*This content was translated by AI.

The former UFC flyweight champion will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, the highest honor for a fighter to climb.

UFC announced on the 1st that former flyweight champion Dmitrius Johnson (39, USA) will enter the UFC Hall of Fame Modern Wing category in 2026. The induction ceremony will be held this summer.

UFC President and CEO Dana White praised Johnson as "the greatest flyweight of all time" through the UFC and said, "He was a great champion with the most amazing career in MMA history. "The record of defending 11 consecutive titles is one of the most phenomenal achievements in professional sports history."

Chairman White then added, "It is an honor to dedicate Johnson to the Hall of Fame this summer."

Johnson is listed as the 18th member of the modern player category. The category is for players aged 35 or older or one year after retirement among those who have debuted since November 17, 2000, when the MMA integrated rules were introduced.

Johnson, who played on the MMA stage for 14 years, left a record of 25 wins, 1 draw and 4 losses (17 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses based on UFC/WEC). During his time as an active player, Johnson built a legendary career by beating the best players of his time, including Miguel Torres, Kyōji Horiguchi, Henry Sehudo, and Yuya Wakamatsu.

Johnson, who made his professional debut in 2009, joined the UFC through the WEC. In 2011, he lost his bantamweight title match against Dominic Cruz, but in 2012, he defeated Joseph Benavidez to become the first UFC flyweight champion.

Later, Johnson's era of soloism began. Johnson has won 11 consecutive title defenses in about four years, setting an all-time record. After losing to Henry Sehudo in August 2018 and dropping the title for the first time in five years, he moved to the ONE Championship and showed off his skills by winning the flyweight Grand Prix and becoming the champion. Johnson stepped down from the top in May 2023, announcing his retirement shortly after the successful defending of the title.

Johnson's record in the UFC is overwhelming. He has held the championship for 2142 days, the second-longest tenure in UFC history, and holds the record for most consecutive wins in flyweight (13 consecutive wins) and most wins in title matches (12 wins). In addition, he showed perfect performance on both sides of offense and defense, recording the highest effective hitting hit rate (57.2%) and defense rate (68.4%) in flyweight history.

It was followed by a brilliant award-winning career. Starting with Fighter of the Year selected by "Fox Sports" in 2013, he swept Fighter of the Year and Submission of the Year awards from major media such as "ESPN" and "Sports Illustrated" in 2017.

Johnson, who is from Washington State, is a positional figure who rose to the top of the world by starting MMA as a hobby after distinguishing himself as a wrestler in high school. Currently, he is a passionate game enthusiast and jiu-jitsu practitioner who is living his second life by participating in IBJJF Master World Competition.

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*This content was translated by AI.