Why Demetrious Johnson is the unsung hero of our times

One of the most dominant champions in the history of UFC

Every sport has its underachievers and its champions. But rarely does it ever happen, well at least in popular opinion, that both categories conveniently merge into each other and steal the well-deserved glory from not only the athlete but the sport itself. As the highly proclaimed "most boring" champion in UFC, the Flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson is one of the many fighters carrying this heavy burden and surprisingly so.

Chances are that if you are reading this article, you know more about MMA than the average Joe who watches Fedor Emelianenko highlight reels for fun (I hope so) and unfortunately, that's how ignorant majority of the UFC watching demographic is.

DJ is an all round mixed martial artist who has given us MMA junkies some truly amazing moments. His footwork, accurate striking, and extremely fluid movement altogether is a pleasure to witness but he has been unable to give the masses (a.k.a people who buy the tickets to watch unrestricted violence ) what they truly desire. And what they desire is satisfaction, satisfaction from quenching their thirst for blood and whatever looks cool in the highlight reel and requires an absolute minimal investment of mental faculties. No wonder fights like these typically cater to people with low attention span.

Promoting a brawl between two fighters that is expected to go on for a round or less until one of them would get knocked out is a move you can't go wrong with. The only way the impatient audience could handle all five rounds is if, by the end of the fight, blood splats are commonplace. But Demetrious Johnson is simply too smart and technically too precise to let any of that happen. His ability to close distance and lands accurate combinations before swiftly moving out of the range is a skill that you cannot acquire if you are not light on your feet and have spent years training to fight at such phenomenal pace.

Beautiful footwork is also a cause as well as an effect of being confident in your abilities. To be intensely focused and have a stoic calm at the same time is what makes a mentally tough competitor, indeed only the very elite practice conditioning their mind as well as their body, the very essence of martial arts. In that regard, Demetrious Johnson certainly operates on another level. It is close to impossible to get under his skin.

Accurate striking does not dominate his game but rather decorates it

If you want to understand Johnson's game, you must not be fooled by appearances. Things are usually much different than what they look like in a 15-second promo. Consider Johnson vs Dodson 1, Mighty Mouse got knocked down with Dodson's counters on more than one occasion. Yes, they made him wobble for a few seconds and he certainly proved he could take some shots but consider how Johnson both outstruck and outwrestled Dodson to score the decision win. Johnson's accuracy spoke for itself.

A skill set like that if added with a drastically improved takedown defense will yield us not only a technically superior athlete who will go the distance, but also keep the opponent guessing throughout by keeping the fight in perpetual motion. Demetrious is as unpredictable as he is technical. A matter that is beyond the scope of casual fans is that the tempo of the fight is usually decided by one dominant fighter who will either have the dominant octagon centre control or just be the more aggressive of the two, he may switch stances or keep constant pressure, doesn't matter as long as he pushes his opponent to keep the game in his forte.

Demetrious Johnson has been doing exactly this and went on to wipe out all of the flyweight division. His title reign is already in one of longest title reigns in all of UFC with 7 successful title defenses. He dreams of beating Anderson Silva's record for defending his middleweight title 10 times.To someone who's acquainted with Johnson's abilities, this dream seems more than reasonable.

Not quite how the average UFC fan looks like but it serves as a template for all intents and purposes

But hey, none of that matters to the average drunk beer bellied bum who bought a ticket to see bloodshed and knockouts. It's a shame that mighty mouse is the only and the most dominant champion his division has ever seen and yet people are "bored to death" as they watch but don't really see the technical wizardry that is a little too much to process for 5 rounds.

In his recent fight, "fans" started leaving around the second round which is obviously not good news for the division. Yes, Zuffa is a private business and UFC is a product that has to be sold for the company to keep investing in the flyweight division but no matter how technical these guys get, no matter how much they contribute to not only to their division but mixed martial arts in general, they will always fail to inspire when you have gigantic men fighting on the same card who have serious knockout power. Even though it may seem that's all there simply is in the heavyweight division. And that is the reason there could never be a legendary dominating heavyweight champion.

But this is fortunately not the case in lower weight classes where even though the knockout power is not as prominent, but the technical precision alone makes the fights look beautifully orchestrated. The symphony remains the same, but the tempo increases drastically in the flyweight division where things happen at blinding speeds. If the flyweight division is the fastest and the heavyweight division the most powerful, it only makes sense to not have a dominating champion in a highly competitive environment with limited skill set and that is where Demetrious Johnson's true glory lies .

He has not only dominated his division but a division that is by definition, extremely hard to dominate. Johnson had the attitude of a champion even when he held a 10 fight undefeated streak without having any background in any combat sport whatsoever before training for MMA. No proper wrestling or BJJ or striking background but just a kid with unparalleled will power and exceptional athletic abilities; the best raw material a trainer could ask for. He had something special in him, something that made all the difference between a fighter who could become the champion and a fighter who was meant to stay the champion.

Seamless transitions from standup to ground and back again

So even if you are not a fan of technical fighting where combat resembles chess more than a slugfest (read: not interested in the sport, but violence) or if you don't like fights that don't resemble the brawl that you had last summer in your local pub when you had too much to drink, then I have some very bad news for you, but fortunately, not for the sport. Demetrious "mighty mouse" Johnson has already left a lasting impression in the world of mixed martial arts.

Popularity matters, true enough. But in the world of actual merit based combat, there is no variable in the equation that depends on anyone's skewed or accurate perception of Mighty mouse's abilities, for they operate independently of our opinion and will continue to do so as far as I can see.

There are no tables left unturned for the Mighty Mouse

Growing up in a poor household with no father and a deaf mother to become a UFC champion is an achievement that lies far beyond facing the petty remarks of journalists who are obsessed with PPV ratings more than Dana White himself and fans who are obsessed with finishing fights regardless of it being the right strategy for a particular opponent.

Undeniably, Mighty mouse has seen a lot, there have been more significant and devastating events that couldn't shake him. Ignorant remarks like these don't even deserve to register in his mind and rightfully so. He's a true role model for the millennial generation.

I firmly believe that the best from Johnson is yet to come, though probably not in the department of ratings and it would be an unfair expectation to have from the champion. Meaningless drama is not a standard fixture in Johnson’s fights but a lot of mutual respect between the opponents, hardly a story to sell tickets to. Regardless, there are a lot of good fights left in Johnson.

Though people will keep craving for the dog fight, PPV ratings are the least of mighty mouse’s concerns. I could imagine Johnson measuring his range from these accusations and in a swift fury of vengeance, he will close the distance when we least expect it.