{"id":88572,"date":"2025-08-22T22:48:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T22:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/88572\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T22:48:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T22:48:07","slug":"israel-adesanya-surprised-mma-goat-isnt-in-ufc-hall-of-fame-seven-years-after-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/88572\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel Adesanya surprised MMA \u2018GOAT\u2019 isn\u2019t in UFC Hall of Fame seven years after release"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One UFC legend has yet to be immortalized.<\/p>\n

This summer, we saw several stars get inducted into the UFC<\/a> Hall of Fame: WMMA \u2018GOAT\u2019 Amanda Nunes<\/a>, Robbie Lawler, Vitor Belfort, and Mark Kerr.<\/p>\n

Former foes Israel Adesanya<\/a> and Kelvin Gastelum were also inducted into the Fight Wing for their 2018 \u2018fight of the year\u2019 from UFC 236.<\/p>\n

Adesanya couldn\u2019t believe he made it in the UFC Hall of Fame by 35. The former two-time champ is also taken aback that an all-time great isn\u2019t in there with him after all he\u2019s done for the sport.<\/p>\n

\"UFCPhoto by Jamie Squire\/Getty ImagesIsrael Adesanya says the UFC \u2018better\u2019 induct Demetrious Johnson to Hall of Fame<\/p>\n

Retired UFC champion Demetrious Johnson<\/a>, the greatest flyweight of all time, has yet to be inducted to the UFC Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

\u2018Mighty Mouse\u2019 holds the record for most consecutive title defenses in UFC history (11), a feat that may never be broken. A model champion, Johnson reigned as the UFC\u2019s pound-for-pound king for years.<\/p>\n

Johnson left the UFC in 2018 when he was traded to ONE Championship for Ben Askren<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Johnson officially retired last year with a pro record of 25-4-1, walking away from the sport as arguably the greatest MMA fighter of all time<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found out recently you\u2019re not in the UFC Hall of Fame,\u201d Adesanya told Johnson on Young Man Ramble.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou better be\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cThey better be [inducting you]. The GOAT,\u201d Adesanya said of Johnson.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho was I talking to? I was like, wait, DJ\u2019s not in the Hall of Fame? I was like, wait, what?<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially cause you\u2019ve been away from the UFC now for how long?\u201d Adesanya said.<\/p>\n

Seven years have passed since Johnson\u2019s last UFC fight against Henry Cejudo at UFC 227.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut even me, I\u2019m like\u2026 When I first saw [my induction], I was like, I\u2019m too young to be in the Hall of Fame. But for this fight, I was like, I\u2019ll take it. Because it was me and Kelvin and it was a banger f\u2014\u2014 fight,\u201d Adesanya said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you of all people should be in the Hall of Fame, bar none,\u201d Adesanya told Johnson.<\/p>\n

Demetrious Johnson on if UFC invites him to Hall of Fame<\/p>\n

How would Demetrious Johnson feel about entering the UFC Hall of Fame?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been years since Johnson has attended a UFC event and the former champion hasn\u2019t always seen eye-to-eye with UFC boss Dana White, who once told him he wasn\u2019t the UFC\u2019s best fighter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Still, there\u2019s no denying what Johnson did for the UFC and the sport as a whole, especially the lighter weight classes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they do the invitation, I\u2019ll probably accept it,\u201d the 39-year-old said of a potential induction to the UFC Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to be in the UFC Hall of Fame because that\u2019s what\u2019s taken the sport of mixed martial arts to the next level. There hasn\u2019t been another company to be able to do it,\u201d Johnson said of the UFC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One UFC legend has yet to be immortalized. This summer, we saw several stars get inducted into the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88573,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,66052,786,54075,785,85,787],"class_list":["post-88572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-demetrious-johnson","tag-fighting","tag-israel-adesanya","tag-mma","tag-sports","tag-ufc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}