Demetrious Johnson is no longer the only man to hold the UFC flyweight title
It was thought that Demetrious Johnson had all but cleaned out the flyweight division. In his record-setting title reign, he looked pretty much invincible.
There was such a dearth of contenders for DJ that the promotion had to get creative to keep things interesting. An entire season of the Ultimate Fighter was built around finding the next flyweight title challenger. Champions from regional promotions were drafted into the famous house in order to find a suitable contender. Tim Elliott won that season and despite some promising flashes against ‘Mighty Mouse,’ he was well beaten by the P4P great.
Johnson’s dominance at 125 lbs was summed up by the fact that he had to defend the strap against a few elite contenders twice. Joseph Benavidez and John Dodson lost two 125 lb title fights apiece to DJ. For both men, the second beating was considerably worse than the first. So when Henry Cejudo was booked to fight Johnson two years after being brutally knocked out in their first meeting, many folks saw the result as a foregone conclusion.
However, the Olympic gold medalist had other plans.
A historic upset #UFC227 https://t.co/y0mHc5HikM
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) August 5, 2018
Hurt
Cejudo shocked the world by taking Johnson’s belt on the second time of asking. He outworked Johnson in the latter rounds to earn a 47-48, 48-47, 48-47 split decision victory. While Cejudo’s gas tank remained nearly full throughout the fight, there was a noticeable drop-off in performance from DJ in the final rounds. He may have revealed the reason for this during the UFC 227 post-fight press conference.
“I’m fine. Losing happens. Every great champion loses. I’ve lost before, you know, when I fought Dom (Cruz). I lose in the gym. So, I’m fine. I’m more upset about the injuries but, other than that, I’m ok.”
As soon as the word ‘injuries’ was mentioned, the obvious question was asked. Johnson did his best to clear the situation up.
“I think I probably tore my right LCL and then my right foot might be broken.”
The right LCL probably happened in the second or third round. I remember we were scrambling and I maybe shot and it kind of pushed me over and I rolled over on my right knee. I felt the pop and was like, ‘There goes the right LCL. Fantastic.’ And then the foot, that’s just from kicking and kicking and kicking and kicking.”
If it turns out to be true, this only cements Johnson as a warrior further. Especially considering how many people thought he actually beat Cejudo in the sequel.
