When Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and Ian “Uncle Creepy” McCall first met at UFC on FX 2, it appeared as though Johnson had won by decision. A scoring error caused the decision to be ruled a draw, though.
Johnson had his chance to prove that he was the superior fighter on Friday, and he took it.
Johnson defeated McCall by unanimous decision at UFC on FX 3 and made sure there was little doubt about who the true winner was. Johnson was in control for the vast majority of the bout, and with the win he will move on to face Joseph Benavidez in the finals of the UFC Flyweight Championship tournament.
Mighty Mouse had dealt with a lot of disappointment prior to Friday night. He lost just his second career fight to Dominick Cruz in a Bantamweight Championship match back in October and then had to deal with the reversed decision against McCall. This victory gives him a lot of momentum and confidence moving forward.
Benavidez won’t be a walk in the park for Johnson, as he has an impressive 16-2 record in his own right, with both losses also coming against Cruz. Johnson, though, is the younger and more dangerous fighter at this point.
Neither Johnson nor Benavidez has ever been knocked out or submitted, however, so the bout should be a good one.
Now that Johnson has cleared the McCall hurdle, I can’t see anything slowing him down. What makes Johnson so good is that he is equally capable of making his opponent tap out, knocking him out or going the distance and winning it on the judges’ scorecards. That type of versatility will bode very well for him moving forward.
UFC has never before had a Flyweight Champion, so the winner will be carrying the torch for the weight class in the company. Not only is Johnson a great fighter, but he has a fantastic personality as well and would be an excellent person for UFC to build around. He likely won’t become as big of a star as someone like Jon Jones, since the flyweight division doesn’t receive as much attention, but he can be a cornerstone guy.
Johnson has been a part of some spectacular fights since WEC merged with UFC and he is the type of fighter that UFC would love to build pay-per-views and other large events around. Benavidez is a good representative as well. He won’t go quietly against Johnson, but most would probably agree that Johnson is the more exciting fighter.
Whenever the Johnson vs. Benavidez fight is announced it will certainly generate a great deal of interest. It should be great for UFC regardless of who wins, but after proving to everyone that he could beat McCall, the title will be Johnson’s to lose.
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