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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson continued his successful run in the UFC's flyweight division on Saturday night, winning his third straight fight in the division to defend his UFC Flyweight Championship for the first time. However, it wasn't any easy fight for the Champion, who had to fight through some bad spots in the first two rounds when John Dodson landed some heavy strikes.
Johnson attributed that to an overzealous approach early, and as he regained his bearings, he adjusted his attack, and was able to take control.
"The first couple rounds were hard and he threw some stuff that I wasn't ready for and I had to dig deep and pull through and keep the pressure on him," Johnson said on the post-fight show on Fuel TV. "He was fast. I wasn't just following the game plan, I was getting too greedy and I was dealing wrong with him. I got caught and just relaxed, breathed and pull through it."
One of the things that turned the tide in the fight late were a series of relentless knees in the clinch, though it began with one that landed illegally. Johnson said it was far from intentional, and he adjusted his attack after that first knee went awry.
"If you look at John Dodson's fights, he doesn't like to be in the clinch. I'm ready for a knee battle against anybody in the flyweight division," he said. "The first time I put my knee to his head, I couldn't tell [his hand was on the ground] because I was looking at the back of his head. After the first time I got warned, I apologized about that. I could feel his pressure and he has to move. It's not checkers – it's chess damn it!”
That knee attack played into Johnson being the noticeably the fresher fighter late in the fight, and he said his conditioning come the fifth round was a statement to the rest of the division. If they're going to get into a fight against him, they're going to have to deal with his pressure for five rounds.
"Anybody can be fast in the first round, trust me," Johnson said. "My wife is fast in the first round. But it's a five-round fight and you have to be fast in all five rounds and I am."
"Going five rounds with Dominick Cruz, Joseph Benavidez, Ian McCall. That stuff has all helped me earn my belt. And now going five rounds with a guy who is close to my speed helps me out a lot. That’s the stuff that other guys have to look forward to when they fight me."
Penick's Analysis: Johnson had two fantastic rounds in the fourth and fifth, but in the future he'll need to be wary of starting slow like he did on Saturday. Dodson legitimately had an argument for taking the first and third round, and in the second he had an argument for a 10-8 due to the two knockdowns. Had a couple judges been inclined to lean the challenger's way on those rounds, Johnson could have legitimately lost the title despite the last two rounds. He didn't, and from an overall fight standpoint he absolutely deserved to win the decision, but two of those rounds were definitely too close for comfort. Still, that attack in the fourth and fifth rounds was fantastic, and he continues to show improved aspects of his game from fight to fight.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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