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“Pound-for-pound. Headshot. Dead.” Leon Edwards’ stunning finish of Kamaru Usman at UFC 278 is MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Year for 2022.
With another action-packed year of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie takes a look at the best knockouts from January to December 2022.
As voted on by our entire staff, here are the top 10 and winner of MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Year.
Even though it’s 1-1, you could argue the series has tilted in Demetrious Johnson’s favor, but he doesn’t necessarily see it that way.
After five fights, [autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag] is the ONE Championship flyweight champion but admits he’s still getting used to an important aspect of the promotion’s ruleset.
Prior to his ONE Champion debut in early 2019, Johnson spent eight years fighting for WEC/UFC, which doesn’t allow knees to a grounded opponent. In ONE Championship, they’re completely legal.
It’s how Johnson suffered his first promotional loss in April 2021 when he was stunningly knocked out by then-135-pound champion [autotag]Adriano Moraes[/autotag] with a knee to the face while sitting on his bottom. On Aug. 27, nearly 17 months later, Johnson got his revenge on Moraes when he won the rematch by fourth-round knockout with a perfectly timed flying knee to claim the title.
As far as the two performances go, you could make the case that the series tilts in Johnson’s favor, but he doesn’t necessarily see it that way.
“No, it’s 1-1,” Johnson told MMA Junkie Radio. “He beat me the first time. I ducked into the uppercut, and you know, I was trying to get up. He blasted me to the face with a knee and then he gave me a five-piece chicken meal on the ground, and that was all she wrote.”
Their first encounter didn’t get past the second round, with Johnson (31-4-1) holding his own until the grounded knee finished him. In the rematch, things looked even early until Johnson found his range and rhythm and started to take over until the finishing sequence in Round 4.
“In this one, it was a good fight back and forth,” Johnson said. “He was doing a good job taking me down. And when he took me down, I was like, I kind of know his ground game for the most part. But then after the first round – even in the first round when I was doing damage to him on the ground, and I cut him, I realized I cut him. I hit him, cut him, perfect, right above the eyeball, and (I was thinking) hopefully the blood will drip into his eye so he’ll be blind. I’m starting to think like that when I’m fighting. Then when we separated after the first round, I look over to his corner, and I was like, ‘Oh, I’m busting him up.’ And for me, I feel fine. I am getting hit from bottom, but it’s not something that’s gonna put my lights out.
“And I have great skin care, moisturize every single day. My wife does very good with my skin-care regiment so I don’t cut very easily. So I was totally fine being on the ground at that moment.”
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Besides, Johnson wasn’t discouraged by being on his back, he said, because it wasn’t as though Moraes was successfully hitting double- or single-leg takedowns. It was because the much taller Moraes caught a kick and was able to get Johnson off balance.
The way the fight unfolded pleased Johnson, even though he’s still getting used to being in the ONE cage.
“I realized I was busting him up on the bottom as the fight went on,” Johnson said. “He landed a couple of good knees and that front choke, and it’s just a different ball game. I’m still getting used to it. I’ve never been on the other receiving end of being front-choked, and I’m able to get kneed in the head. It’s very unique. The knees to the ground is a very unique style that you have to beware of. … I’m still learning, I’m still getting better with that whole dynamic of the knees to an opponent on the ground, but it was a great fight.
“I was able to land that right hand, line up that knee, and that’s all she wrote.”
In all likelihood, a trilogy between Johnson and Moraes should be on the horizon. If that ends up being the case, Johnson welcomes that.
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The longest tenured No. 1 flyweight in our rankings history is back on top of the division. Check out all the moves in our MMA rankings.
The longest tenured No. 1 flyweight in our rankings history is back on top of the division.
Longtime UFC flyweight champion [autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag] fell out of the top spot in 2018 when he lost to Henry Cejudo. He moved to ONE Championship after that, and it took him a while to get back to the top of the ladder.
But with his flying knee knockout of Adriano Moraes at ONE on Prime Video 1, “Mighty Mouse” became a titleholder again – and now he’s passed up UFC champion Deiveson Figueiredo and interim champ Brandon Moreno in our flyweight rankings.
That win also means a jump in the pound-for-pound rankings for Johnson, too. Plus, one of his fellow ONE Championship colleagues got back in the win column, recaptured a belt, and now can re-enter our rankings: Christian Lee.
Check out all of the moves following ONE Championship’s eventful night of fights, and get caught up on all the divisions ahead of this week’s UFC debut in Paris, UFC Fight Night 209.
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Nearly four years after he left the UFC for ONE Championship, Demetrious Johnson is a champ again. But is he back to being world’s best?
[autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag] is a champion once again.
Nearly four years after he left the UFC for ONE Championship, “Mighty Mouse” captured another title when he knocked out Adriano Moraes in the ONE on Prime Video 1 headliner. The win gave Johnson a measure of revenge after a knockout loss to Moraes in his first title attempt.
Johnson has only lost twice is the past decade. In 2018 in what turned out to be his final UFC fight, he lost the flyweight title to Henry Cejudo by split decision – and in that fight, nearly half the MMA analyst scores tracked by MMADecisions.com had Johnson winning the fight – including three who thought he not only won, but took four rounds.
To say DJ’s run has been impressive is an understatement. But after he lost to Cejudo, he took a slight tumble in the flyweight rankings and has been sitting behind current UFC champ Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno in the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie flyweight rankings for a minute.
Was his win over Moraes enough to make him the best 125-pounder in the world again? Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Mike Bohn and Nolan King discussed that question with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia. You can watch their conversation in the video above, or check out this week’s full episode below.
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MMA Junkie’s weekly “Spinning Back Clique” discusses Demetrious Johnson’s return to champ status, UFC Paris, Colby Covington and more.
Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts.
Our panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Mike Bohn and Nolan King discuss five topics with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia.
“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Tuesday on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel. You can watch the full episode in the video above.
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“Buchecha” has plans on being successful in MMA for a long time.
[autotag]Marcus Almeida[/autotag] believes he has proven himself as a dangerous MMA fighter.
A high-level BJJ black belt with multiple tournament championships to his credit, “Buchecha” took on the challenge of becoming an MMA competitor last year. So far, so good for Almeida (4-0), who picked up his fourth-straight victory in the first round by stopping former title challenger Kirill Grishenko.
The fight took place on the main card of ONE on Prime Video 1 at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore on Friday.
Almeida gave a glimpse of his ever-evolving striking game when he knocked Grishenko off his feet with a hard leg kick to start the fight. The strike immediately set the tone of the bout. Before Grishenko (5-1) could get into a rhythm, Almeida shot in for a takedown and seamlessly transitioned into a heel hook that forced a quick tap just 64 seconds into the fight.
“I fought the toughest guys of the division already,” Almeida said during his post-fight interview. “I got the job done, so now I think people start to respect me as a MMA fighter, not just a grappler. They saw that I can take a punch, I can punch back, I can kick. So, I think that’s all about to be a MMA fighter and I’m proving that. … I’m here for a long time. I’m here to stay.”
Almeida, 32, made his MMA debut against Anderson Silva (no, not that one) in September 2021, winning by submission in the opening round. In December, he followed it up by handing Ji Won Kang his first pro loss. This year he has picked up two victories, pounding out Simon Carson for a mid-first-round stoppage at ONE Championship 158, and the heel hook finish of Grishenko.
Check out the full post-fight interview with “Buchecha” in the video above.
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Former UFC and current ONE flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson avenged the only knockout loss of his career at ONE on Prime Video 1.
Knockouts by knee seem to hover around the ONE Championship flyweight title.
In the main event of ONE on Prime Video 1 at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore, [autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag] got one back on Adriano Moraes, returning the knockout favor by landing a vicious left knee in the fourth round to finish their title fight rematch.
Moraes (20-3) landed a knee to the head of Johnson (24-4-1) to win by knockout in their first meeting at ONE on TNT 1, but this time, the script was flipped, and the former UFC flyweight king was certainly pleased with the outcome.
“It feels good, man,” Johnson said during his post-fight interview. “It was a great fight against Adriano Moraes. I think the first fight we had against each other, you know, he got me. Then when I came home and watched it, I was kind of a little irritated about a couple of things. But we got this one. I wish nothing but the best for Adriano.”
Moraes found success early in the fight. In fact, the now-former champion performed very well in the first two rounds, securing takedowns and landing hard ground strikes on Johnson. In the third round, things began to change as Johnson found his rhythm and began to look like the best flyweight on the planet.
Then, in the fourth round, Johnson timed a beautiful right-hand counter that sent Moraes crashing to the mat, followed by a devastating knee to the head to seal the title win. While the specific technique to the finishing sequence wasn’t planned, the mindset and the approach to the fight were, which allowed Johnson to see things clearly as the fight unfolded.
“It wasn’t something like we drill,” Johnson said. “It’s just kind of like, it’s just, I guess you could say, our stance and how we fight. The biggest thing was just trying to be dynamic and just be fluid and chill.
“When I landed the right hand I saw he was wobbled, I kept my distance, and I saw he was about to run into the cage, I was like, ‘OK, it’s a perfect time.’ And I threw the knee and once I knew that landed, it’s like a kill shot. I was like, ‘OK, that’s game,’ and just walked off.”
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With the win, Johnson rebounded from the knockout loss to Moraes in April 2021. It was the first time Johnson was finished in his career, and his first loss after exiting the UFC in 2018.
“I’m just happy that I was grateful to be healthy enough to go out there and put him away,” Johnson said. “It was a great fight. He hit me with some good shots. He was trying to go for a D’Arce, he had me on the ground landing good knees to the head. But you know, I knew it was going to be a tough fight. That’s one of the things I love about competing, you know? There’s a part of me where I hate pressure, I hate all of the eyeballs on me, but then there’s a part of me that’s like, ‘Yeah. F*ck yeah, let’s go. Let’s see how hard we can push it. Let’s see if we can push ourselves to that breaking point.'”
If a trilogy with Moraes is on the horizon, Johnson is open to taking on the challenge once again. At 36 with a mindset that is unwavering, Johnson is up for whatever may be next, including a trilogy with former UFC champion and friendly foe Henry Cejudo, if that could somehow come together.
“At the end of the day, I’m at the point in my career I’m just here to have fun, and if I win, I win; If I lose, I lose,” Johnson said. “I’m not going to let the outcome of my wins or my losses dictate my life. If I was on the receiving end of another knee, I would have had the same demeanor and energy right now.”
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Check out these photos from ONE on Prime Video 1 at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore.
Check out these photos from ONE on Prime Video 1 which took place at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore, featuring a flyweight title rematch between Demetrious Johnson and Adriano Moraes. (Photos courtesy of ONE Championship)
Check out these photos from Demetrious Johnson vs. Adriano Moraes 2 at ONE on Prime Video 1 in Singapore.
Check out these photos from [autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag]’s knockout victory over Adriano Moraes to win the flyweight title at ONE on Prime Video 1 at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore. (Photos courtesy of ONE Championship)
Check out the reaction to Demetrious Johnson’s knockout of Adriano Moraes at ONE on Prime Video 1.
One of the best to ever do it has won gold again.
In the main event of [autotag]ONE on Prime Video 1[/autotag], [autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag] claimed the ONE Championship flyweight title by knocking out Adriano Moraes in the fourth round of their rematch.
Johnson was finished by a knee to the head in their first meeting, but this time around it would be “Mighty Mouse” who finished the fight with a right hand that dropped Moraes, followed by a flush knee to the face.
Check out below to see the reaction on social media to the incredible finish.
