UFC 174 results: Demetrious Johnson dominates Ali Bagautinov

Saturday night was just another night at the office for UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson.

The only 125-pound champion the UFC has ever known, one of the finest all-around fighters in the sport of mixed martial arts, had his entire arsenal on display in the main event of UFC 174 in Vancouver.

The fighter known as “Mighty Mouse” flustered Ali Bagautinov from bell-to-bell, retaining his title via unanimous decision. All three judges’ scores were 50-45.

It was the Seattle-area fighter’s fourth successful defense of the belt he inaugurated in Sept. 2012.

“I’m the king, Johnson (20-2-1) said. “I’ll stay the king as long as I can man, I’ll keep on knocking them down.”

Bagautinov, a Jackson’s MMA fighter, took an 11-fight win streak into Saturday’s fight and earned the nickname “The Puncher King” for his excellent striking skills.

But Johnson used his superb blend of speed and technique to fluster Bagautinov. Johnson set up just outside his opponent’s reach, leaving his opponent swinging at air more often than not. Johnson darted in, landed, and darted back out at will.

When they clinched, Johnson landed knees and elbows. When Bagautinov went for takedowns, Johnson usually sprawled them, and on the rare occasions he got Johnson to the mat, the champ popped right back to his feet.

The stats on the fight started getting out of hand by round three. He was landing strikes at distance at an 8-to-1 ratio over his foe. He landed his 100th significant fight before the round was out. Before the fourth round was over, Johnson went over 150 total strikes for the fight, while Bagautinov was stuck around 60.

A cardio machine, Johnson poured it on the the championship rounds, with a crazy scramble in the closing moments of round four, with the bell saving Baguatinov before Johnson could transition to a submission.

The game Bagautinov, who had never gone five rounds before, went the distance, but he took a beating for his efforts.

It was a great fight. I hit him with shots and they go down, a high kick he’s a tough guy man. How tough he was. I know how tough he was, my hands, he’s in a fight.