Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson delivered another virtually flawless performance against Ray Borg tonight at UFC 216, capped off by an amazing submission finish.
Round One:
The co-main event flyweight title fight is underway in Las Vegas!
Early leg kick for Johnson, then another. A third comes soon after. How about another one for good measure?
More of the same follows, then he fires off a head kick attempt, but that’s blocked. BOrg tries to work in a flurry, but DJ is backing away from the danger.
Solid body kick for Johnson. Another one and this time it’s almost caught, but Johnson still manages to take the challenger down.
It’s not long before they are back up and Johnson lands another solid body kick. Borg trying for a low single and tries to get Johnson down, but the champ ends up sitting on his opponent’s back while Borg still clutches his leg.
There’s a couple of brief scrambles with DJ very much in control and then he settles into half-guard. A little ground and pound and then he easily moves away from a potential submission set-up and then gets back into half-guard again.
Johnson allows Borg to take his neck momentarily and then transitions to side control. He’s trying for a kimura, but nothing doing for now and he slips into full mount.
Borg does well to get him back to his guard and is trying to work for a kimura himself as the round ends. All DJ in round one.
Round Two:
KIck for Johnson to start the second. Now Borg closes the distance with a jumping knee and then switches to a takedown attempt. Borg settles for the clinch against the cage, but Johnson reverses that position.
Borg trying for a guillotine, but Johnson is wise to it. Borg back in the dominant position in the clinch and he lands a takedown. This is good for Borg.
Johnson looking to stand and Borg hops onto his back while he’s stnading. Things are getting interesting as he looks for a choke, but only momentarily as Johnson stays relaxed and then shakes the challenger off his back and gets on top.
Johnson passing Borg’s guard again and looking for openings to set-up submissions. However, BOrg gets to his knees and then stands up.
Borg pushing Johnson against the cage again, but the champ reverses the position. Now it’s DJ who lands a takedown and instantly shifts to side control as he does so, nullifying the challengers instinctive guillotine.
Borg back to his knees turtled up as Johnson spins around him. Now Borg is sitting with his back to the cage as Johnson lands a shoulder strike. Johnson stands over him and backs away from a few upkick attempts as the round ends.
Round Three:
Body kick for Johnson. Another lands and Borg grabs it and tries to work a takedown. Excellent balance from DJ though to stay upright. Back to a familiar position now as Borg goes to his knees with that leg, while Johnson sits on his back, then scrambles to get on top.
Johnson in side control and almost sets up the crucifix position. Three minutes to work here as Borg brings him back to half-guard.
Showing his creativity Johnson lands knee strikes to the body from half-guard. Johnson stands and tries to sweep Borg’s legs aside, but the challenger does a nice job of keeping him at bay and forces him back to full guard.
It’s not long before Johnson is back in side control. Borg’s doing as well as he can, but Johnson’s technique and fight awareness is just so high that he can’t make any headway.
Johnson to full mount, then he has Borg’s back with a little over a minute to go in the round. Borg scrambles nicely to get away from that position, but ends up with Johnson in side control again.
Borg looks to scramble again and Johnson steps away as he stands, then comes back in with a couple of hard body punches, then a takedown, with Borg trying in vain for a guillotine as the horn sounds.
Round Four:
Leg kick for DJ to start the championship rounds. Borg in on a early takedown attempt, hoists Johnson into the air and slams him down.
Good job by Borg, who doesn’t look tired at this stage in the fight. However, it’s not long before Johnson slickly posts up and stands, then soon has Borg down again.
Johnson working elbow strikes to the head. Johnson moves from half-guard to side control. Borg scrambles to his feet and Johnson greets him with a big knee to the body.
Johnson presses Borg to the cage. Johnson suddenly switches to his back and even tries throwing a kick to the head from their, then back to the standard clinch position.
Johnson thumps Borg down hard to the mat. As has been the case so often in teh fight Johnson is content working from side control. Borg picks his moment to scramble, just as Johnson is thinking about an armbar.
Borg back up, but not for long as DJ plants him down on his back again. He’s working for a submission, but the round ends before he can set-up that armbar attempt.
Round Five:
Final round then with Johnson chipping away with leg kicks, then switches into a takedown and lands it. He lands a knee to the body as he’s working.
He can’t be complacent in there though as Borg again scrambles nicely and takes the fight to the champion on the feet again. Johnson just seems to just be able to do whatever he wants though as he soon brings Borg down again.
Johnson moves to full mount this time, but Borg’s scrambling is excellent again to get him off. He can’t shake Johnson though who gets back on top once more.
Borg stands close to the cage with Johnson taking his back. Suddenly Johnson lets out a yell, slams Borg to the mat, while instantaneously grabbing his arm while he’s still in the air to set up an armbar submission as they land.
Jaw-dropping stuff from Johnson, but Borg is making him work hard for this finish. Johnson won’t be denied though and continues cranking on that arm until Borg has no option but to tap-out with 3.15mins of the fifth round gone.
Remarkable performance once again from Johnson who really is the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet – there’s no one else as technically perfect on all aspects of the game as this man and he thoroughly deserves to have broken the UFC record for the most consecutive title defenses tonight (11).
Respect is due to Borg too though as he gave it everything he had and didn’t make life easy for Johnson, though he never really troubled him offensively.
