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In the world of MMA, nothing is ever for certain, but right now most fans and observers agree on one thing – Demetrious Johnson is pound-for-pound the best fighter on the planet. Ranked as #1 in the UFC’s official rankings, nobody really comes close to the Flyweight kingpin right now.
While he’s had some detractors, any criticism usually falls upon his lack of marketable personality rather than his fighting skills – and even that may be beginning to change, as the fan reaction for him has slowly been getting more positive as of his most recent fights. Whether he can translate that into PPV buys is another matter, but there’s no disputing his greatness.
Is he the greatest fighter of all time, though? It’s certainly an argument that could be made right now, and here are five reasons to support that thinking.
#1 He’s got the record for the number of UFC title defences
Criticise the quality of the Flyweight division all you like, but the bottom line is that Demetrious Johnson has the most successful title defences in UFC history with eleven. He’s defended his title against strikers, grapplers, brawlers and everything in between and he’s always come out on top. And really, can you knock his level of opposition?
Okay, so Chris Cariaso and Tim Elliott were more journeymen than top contenders, and Kyoji Horiguchi was perhaps granted his title shot a little too early. But outside of those? Joseph Benavidez – twice beaten by Johnson – hasn’t lost to anyone else in the UFC and pushed Dominick Cruz all the way in a Bantamweight title bout in 2010.
John Dodson is currently ranked within the top ten at 135lbs, Henry Cejudo is one of the greatest wrestlers in MMA history period, and Ray Borg, John Moraga and Wilson Reis all remain highly dangerous opponents for anyone.
Just because the 125lbs division isn’t the most mouth-watering one doesn’t mean it doesn’t have quality fighters. And Anderson Silva – whose record of ten title defences was broken by DJ in October – didn’t always fight the best possible contenders either, snacking on Patrick Cote and Thales Leites amongst others. However you look at it, eleven title defences is a phenomenal record and supports DJ’s claim as the greatest of all time.
#2 He makes his opponents look like amateurs
One of the other contenders for the ‘greatest’ title is Georges St-Pierre and one of the biggest supporting factors for him was always that he made great opponents look like amateurs. Well, DJ does that too and he does it just as well.
Take Joseph Benavidez for instance. He lost to Johnson in the inaugural Flyweight title match in 2012 but then went on a run of violence, with two brutal knockouts in three fights to earn another title shot. And in that rematch? Johnson sparked him out cold in under three minutes.
John Dodson? He was renowned for being the quickest guy on the roster, the hardest hitting man at 125lbs, and yet in his title match at UFC 191, he could barely lay a finger on Mighty Mouse, who simply jabbed him to death using superior striking skills. Watching the fight, you’d never have known Dodson was a great striker.
Likewise Henry Cejudo – an Olympic gold medallist in wrestling, who only got one takedown on Johnson before he was eaten alive in the clinch – an area some would’ve given him an advantage in on paper.
Basically, nobody has looked like they’re in Johnson’s league since Dodson at the start of 2013, and he was vanquished with ease in the subsequent rematch. Everyone from Moraga to Bagautinov to Cejudo to Borg has been thoroughly outclassed.
And while GSP’s later title defences against Carlos Condit, Nick Diaz and Johny Hendricks seemed much tougher for him than his earlier ones, DJ’s still making opponents look silly after five years with the belt. It almost seems unfair.
#3 He finishes fights
One of the earlier criticisms of Mighty Mouse was that he wasn’t a finisher, and earlier in his career you could argue that was the case. His first seven UFC fights went the distance, with DJ winning five, drawing one and losing one – at 135lbs, of course, to the great Dominick Cruz. Since then, though, he’s finished seven of ten bouts inside the distance, with a variety of violent finishes, too. Knockouts, kimuras and armbars are all on his ledger.
Other great champions – Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre and Jon Jones to name three – had trouble finishing top contenders and middling ones alike, usually because those challengers would retract into a largely defensive gameplan once they realised they were outclassed.
St-Pierre, in particular, came under fire for his run of decisions from 2009 to 2013. Johnson has suffered from the same issue regarding his opponents at times, but he’s seemingly found a way around it.
The best part about Johnson’s finishing rate? The time in which he pulls them off. Of his seven title fight finishes, a remarkable four of them have come beyond the third round. DJ doesn’t simply force his opponents into a defensive shell – he smashes that shell open and never settles for a victory on the judges’ scorecards. That’s surely the mark of true greatness.
#4 He’s somehow getting better
Inside observers such as Joe Rogan and Dana White have been hailing Johnson as a pound-for-pound great and one of the all time greats for years now, so you’d think that realistically, his skills would probably have peaked, right?
You’d be horribly wrong. Somehow, not only is Johnson able to stay leaps and bounds beyond his challengers, but he’s also managing to improve his own game to the point where he looks better in each and every fight.
Take a look at his evolution from the first John Dodson fight to the second one. In the first one, while DJ was able to win the fight based on his takedowns, strong clinch work and superior cardio during the later rounds, in the striking portions he was largely beaten – Dodson knocked him down twice and had him in serious trouble on numerous occasions.
In their rematch, though, Johnson had improved his stand-up to the point where not only could Dodson not land on him, but he was eating jabs and combinations throughout the fight. The tools that allowed DJ to win the first match barely figured.
Sometimes – like the Timothy Elliott fight – he somehow appears to improve mid-fight. Elliott took the first round from Johnson using his sneaky grappling game, but Johnson managed to adjust after that round and then went on to thoroughly out-grapple the challenger for four further rounds.
Add in his innovative side too – witness the insane German suplex-into-armbar finish of Ray Borg – and you’ve got a recipe for a fighter who hasn’t even reached his ceiling yet. Which is scary.
#5 The other contenders all have minus points on them
The other fighters considered contenders for the ‘Greatest’ label alongside Johnson are generally assumed to be Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones, Fedor Emelianenko, and Anderson Silva.
And of those five, Johnson probably has the strongest claim purely because he doesn’t have some of the question marks hanging over him that the others do. Sure, you could argue he’s fighting in the weakest division, but he’s still destroying top contenders regularly. Let’s look at the others.
GSP is probably the closest contender to DJ, but hanging over him are his two career losses, to Matt Hughes and Matt Serra, as well as the Johny Hendricks fight which he probably should’ve lost.
The Hughes fight carries no shame but the Serra loss – even though he avenged it – was embarrassing, and Johnson has no losses like that on his ledger. Both of his, in fact, came at 135lbs, a weight class above his natural home.
Silva and Jones both have fantastic records – you can’t really hold Silva’s late-career losses against him I don’t think while Jones realistically has never lost – but the spectre of PEDs hangs over both men like a black cloud, particularly Jones who has now tested positive twice in the prime of his career.
And while Fedor had a fantastic run in PRIDE, many of his opponents were questionable and once he made it into the US, accusations of ducking opponents haunted him and his vaunted winning record was soon broken.
Basically, Johnson stands above the rest – for the time being at least – and while he’s clearly not completely infallible, I’d say he definitely warrants being recognised as the greatest MMA fighter of all time, to date at least.
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