Demetrious Johnson Could Cement Himself As The World’s Best Pound-For-Pound Fighter:
With four straight title defenses at 125 pounds, UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson has defeated every top flyweight in the division. He’ll face off with No. 8-ranked Chris Cariaso in the main event of UFC 178, a fight that most are giving third billing (if not worse) on this card.
If “Mighty Mouse” destroys Cariaso, an outcome that most would predict to come true, then he’ll have five straight defenses with the list of legitimate title challengers growing shorter by the day.
It’s obviously tough to put “Mighty Mouse” ahead of pound-for-pound king Jon Jones given the relative shallowness of the flyweight division, but consider this: Johnson has never been in anything close to trouble in any of his bouts as UFC champion. While the same could have been said about Jones prior to his UFC 165 classic with Alexander Gustafsson, it’s simply not the case right now. It could also be argued that Jones has fought a better level of competition throughout his dominant run, but he doesn’t maintain the dominance that “Mighty Mouse” has right now.
Jones will have also only fought once this year, and Johnson is headed for his fourth title defense in exactly 14 months by the time UFC 178 rolls around.
If he beats Cariaso, does Johnson deserve the No. 1 spot on the pound-for-pound list? Not neccessarily, but it will become more and more difficult to deny him that spot.
If he knocks out or submits “Kamikaze” and then finishes his next opponent, “Mighty Mouse” will have shown that he’s undoubtedly the best fighter in the world if weight classes were thrown out the window.
How will UFC 178 shake up the MMA landscape? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
