Israel Adesanya picks the one classic UFC fight that he would love to see booked again

Israel Adesanya has picked the one classic UFC fight that he would love to see booked again. Adesanya asserted that he’d like to go back in time to rebook the first fight between Demetrious Johnson and Ian McCall.

Reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is widely regarded as one of the best MMA fighters in the world today. Meanwhile, former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, the legendary MMA competitor better known as Mighty Mouse, is considered to be one of the greatest fighters of all time.

Meanwhile, Ian McCall is another widely respected MMA competitor. However, unlike the aforementioned fighters, McCall presently doesn’t compete in the sport of MMA. He retired from MMA in 2018.

In an interview with TheMacLife, Israel Adesanya was asked if given the opportunity to go back in history and book an MMA rematch, which one would it be. Israel Adesanya responded by stating:

“I liked Demetrious Johnson versus Ian McCall, the first one. But, like, I want to go back in the time machine and slap the judge who f**ked it up, and then get that last round going – Because that would’ve been a classic. That would’ve been an instant classic.” (*H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription)

The first fight between Demetrious Johnson and Ian McCall is heralded among the best fast-paced fights in MMA history.

Israel Adesanya praises Demetrious Johnson vs. Ian McCall I

Israel Adesanya (left); Ian McCall (center); Demetrious Johnson (right)

The fight that Israel Adesanya referenced was a three-round flyweight contest between Mighty Mouse and Uncle Creepy.

The first fight between Demetrious Johnson and Ian McCall took place at UFC on FX: Alves vs. Kampmann on March 3rd, 2012. The three-round flyweight bout was an exciting back-and-forth contest, with the judges scoring it as a majority draw (28–28, 29–29, 29–28).

The Australian Athletic Commission performed the duty of collecting and calculating the totals of the judges’ scorecards. The fight’s verdict was initially announced as a majority decision win for Demetrious Johnson. However, later that evening, an error in the Commission's calculation was discovered and it was revealed that the fight was a majority draw.

An important factor that caused many in the MMA community to demand a rematch is a stipulation that was placed in the UFC flyweight tournament. The stipulation in question was that if any of the flyweight tournament’s fights were to end in a draw, both fighters involved in the three-round fight would have to compete in a ‘sudden-death’ fourth round to determine a clear winner.

Nevertheless, since the scorecards were mistakenly calculated as a majority decision win for Demetrious Johnson, the sudden-death fourth round didn’t take place.

That said, the UFC booked a rematch between Demetrious Johnson and Ian McCall, which transpired at UFC on FX: Johnson vs. McCall 2 on June 8th, 2012. Johnson won the rematch via unanimous decision (29–28, 30–27, 29–28). While Ian McCall retired from MMA, Demetrious Johnson continues competing in the sport and currently fights for One Championship.