A dozen years ago, [autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag] made history.
“Mighty Mouse” outworked Joseph Benavidez for a split decision in the final of a four-man tournament to become the UFC’s inaugural flyweight champion. It was the start of a run in the division that will be hard to topple.
Johnson defended the 125-pound title 11 consecutive times before he lost it in a highly debatable split decision to Henry Cejudo at UFC 227 a little more than six years ago. After that, he moved to ONE Championship, where he won that promotion’s 135-pound title before he recently announced his retirement.
On the anniversary of that first UFC flyweight title fight, take a look back at Johnson’s UFC title wins while he was considered by many to be the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport.
Johnson def. Joseph Benavidez, UFC 152
Johnson def. John Dodson, UFC on FOX 6
Johnson def. John Moraga, UFC on FOX 8
Johnson def. Joseph Benavidez, UFC on FOX 9
Johnson def. Ali Bagautinov, UFC 174
Johnson def. Chris Cariaso, UFC 178
Johnson def. Kyogi Horiguchi, UFC 186
Johnson def. John Dodson, UFC 191
Johnson def. Henry Cejudo, UFC 197
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Johnson def. Tim Elliott, TUF 24 Finale
Johnson def. Wilson Reis, UFC on FOX 24
Johnson def. Ray Borg, UFC 216
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