UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson has reigned supreme as the best 125-pound fighter in the world, and over the past two years he has dispatched the entire divisional Top Five.
He’s looked dominant against his contemporaries and is set to defend his belt against the No. 8-ranked Chris Cariaso in a head-scratcher of a fight at UFC 177 on August 30. If fighters like Joseph Benavidez, Ian McCall and John Moraga can’t find a chink in the armor of Mighty Mouse, his next challenges may come from some of the talent outside of the Top Five, where there is no dearth of skilled fighters.
The emerging contenders in the UFC’s lightest men’s weight class are ready for the big stage, and fighters like Dustin Ortiz, Kyoji Horiguchi and Zach Makovsky are all striving to shake up the division and earn a title shot.
With Ortiz winning a close fight against Justin Scoggins and Jon Lineker’s recent Fight of the Night battle with Alptekin Ozkilic putting him back on the winning track, there is no shortage of viable contenders for Johnson.