Don’t like Mighty Mouse? You don’t like MMA

Demetrious-Johnson

UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson seen here taking down Kyoji Horiguchi during the UFC 186 main event. (Graham Hughes/CP)

It’s quite simple, really. If you don’t like watching UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson compete, you don’t like mixed martial arts.

You might like the UFC, you might like the pageantry of a grandiose event, the showmanship we see in fight promotion, and who doesn’t enjoy a dramatic donnybrook? But if you don’t appreciate what Johnson does in the Octagon, you are not a fan of the sport of MMA. Johnson is as close to a perfect fighter as there is — a perfect fighter in the context of executing pristine MMA technique seamlessly over the course of a fight and doing so against the best competition possible.

We saw this last weekend in Montreal when he dominated rising contender Kyoji Horiguchi in the main event of UFC 186 at a half-empty Bell Centre.

Using faultless footwork, exceptional timing and an unsolvable game plan, Johnson outclassed Horiguchi in all areas for 24 minutes, 59 seconds before locking in an armbar and submitting his opponent with one second remaining in the final round.

It was the latest stoppage in UFC history and a record that by definition will never be broken.

With seven seconds remaining, he went from a mounted crucifix position to side control to full mount to a far-side armbar to force the tap. It was remarkable.

(via r/MMA)

He could have continued to pound away on his hapless opponent until time ran out, but he instead chose to advance his position and go for the finish. That’s what MMA is all about isn’t it? Yet fans can’t seem to get on board with Johnson and many of them were seen filing out of the arena in the middle of the main event. The same thing happened to him at UFC 174 in Vancouver last year when he dismantled a juiced up Ali Bagautinov at Rogers Arena.

“I don’t give a [bleep] what people [in the stands] are doing. I’m watching the fight,” UFC president Dana White so eloquently stated at Saturday’s post-fight press conference before adding, “It’s kind of sad that Demetrious Johnson has this thing hanging over his head…He does everything the exact way he’s supposed to. He comes in with a game plan and follows it to the letter. He’s just one of these guys that has to put his head down, keep doing his thing and you have to respect him.”

It’s such a shame more UFC fans don’t appreciate him.

When you think about it, Johnson more or less does exactly what Georges St-Pierre did – using elite wrestling and technique to take the fight to where he feels most comfortable – only “Mighty Mouse” does it faster, more excitingly and he finishes his opponents far more frequently.

But Johnson hasn’t developed into half the box office and PPV draw GSP was and this contributed to terrible ticket sales.

Attendance at UFC 186 was a disappointing 10,154 — they even closed off the upper bowl, something unheard of for events at the Bell Centre — and some blamed Johnson for this. Well, you can blame poor ticket sales, meager PPV numbers and how the sport is promoted in Canada on the UFC, not Johnson.

The UFC has done poorly in Canada the past 18 months and White says the UFC won’t change “a damn thing” in how it promotes events north of the border, but that’s a story for a different day.

Getting back to Johnson, at a time when the UFC regularly draws negative attention due to failed drug tests from stars like Anderson Silva and questionable behaviour from poster boy Jon Jones, having an athlete and role model like Johnson to turn to is something UFC officials and fans should take solace in.

Maybe it’s a case where Demetrious Johnson is a cut of prime rib when most people seem to prefer a cheeseburger, but for someone to claim they’re an MMA fan and then not appreciate what Mighty Mouse does? That’s a disgrace.

“You’re seeing the highest technical level of MMA,” UFC commentator Joe Rogan said Saturday during the fight. “He’s the best overall mixed martial arts fighter ever.”


Follow Mike Johnston on Twitter @MikeyJ_MMA

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