Demetrious Johnson retained his flyweight title tonight in the mian event of UFC 174 with a unanimous decision victory over Ali Bagautinov.
Round One:
leg kick for Johnson to start. Johnson feeling his way forward, missing with a couple of leg kicks along the way.
He’s taken the center of the cage, but then Bagautinov presses forward with powerful strikes that don’t find a home as Johnson gets out of danger.
Nice body kick from Bagautinov. Another couple of punches are dodged by the chammpion. Little leg kick from Johnson as he continues to take the canter of the Octagon.
Nice head movement from Johnson to avoid more strikes from the challenger. Johnson not getting off to much at the moment despite pushing the pace, but he backs away from more punches from Bagautinov.
Leg kick from Johnson. Bagautinov in the clinch now and Johnson goes for the muay thai clinch, then back to the standard clinch.
Nice knee to the head from the clinch from Johnson as Bagautinov continues to try to press him up against the cage.
Punch from Bagautinov and a knee to the body. Another punch and a knee as Johnson reverses the position. Good knees from the champion thrown with authority.
Bagautinov back in the clinch though and lands a solid takedown. Johnson right back up to his feet though as the round comes to an end.
Round Two:
Missed leg kick from Johnson. Another couple do land, but only lightly. Johnson looking to push the pace again, then looks for a takedown, but it doesn’t pay off and Bagautinov clinches.
Johnson gets out is back landing a leg kick. Bagautinov just misses with a head kick. Kick from Bagautinov and Johnson tries for a head kick, but it glances off his opponent.
Nice head movement again from Johnson to get away from some of his opponent’s punches. Johnson is landing with some of his though, but nothing to hard so far.
Head kick from Bagautinov does seem to land, but Johnson appears unphazed. Bagautinov now back into the clinch against the Octagon fence.
He thinks about a single leg, but then lets it go. Not much happening here and Johnson starts to land a few short knees.
Johnson goes briefly to the thai clinch and lands a couple of knees. Bagautinov working hard for a takedown, but when he picks up a leg, Johnson leaps up and lands his other knee.
Final seconds of the round and they exchange a couple of knees to the midsection.
Round Three:
Back to the light leg kicks for Johnson to start the third round. He tries to punch to the body, but comes up a little short.
Left hands land for Johnson and then a good kick to the midsection. Bagautinov clinches up against the cage. Johnson staying busy though with knees to the body from here.
Again there’s not a whole lot happening for Bagautinov here and Johnson manages to hustle him forward and then break free.
Hard body kick lands for Johnson. Punches and kicks land for the champion. Bagautinov lands a kick.
Johnson’s head movement still on point as he darts in and out landing his strikes while avoiding the challengers counters.
Leg kick for Johnson and an overhand for Bagautinov misses. Bagautinov clinches and gets a good takedown, but Johnson is right back up again.
Bagautinov still looking to clinch, but Johnson lands knees and gains the upperhand in the clinch before separating.
Bagautinov looking for a takedown, but Johnson backs away and lands knees. Bagautinov does eventually manage to get him down, but Johnson scrambles and gets on top.
Back up and Johnson lands more effective strikes to end the round.
Round Four:
Leg kicks for Johnson. He tries to go upstairs with a kick. Bagautinov tries to respond in kind, but it misses.
Johnson rushes in with a takedown attempt, but it’s stuffed. He stands and lands a good elbow before backing away.
Johnson misses with an overhand and Bagautinov tries but fails to grab a hold of him in response.
More leg kicks from Mighty Mouse and then they both kick at the same time. Bagautinov loads up on a couple of power strikes that miss the mark.
Johnson lands a hard body kick. He steps hard into a leg kick. Nice knee too as he mixes things up.
Bagautinov wings a big punch that ends up just glancing Johnson’s body. Bagautinov does land a kick to the mid-section.
Slip from Johnson and Bagautinov almost captalizes with a punch.
Bagautinov with his back to the cage and Johnson presses forward and jumps in with a knee to the body.
From there Bagautinov clinches up and presses him against the fence. Again there’s not much offense from the challenger here and the champion lands some knees.
Nice hook from Johnson. There’s a bit of a scramble and Johnson ends up landing a takedown, taking his opponents back in the process, just as the horn sounds.
Round Five
Bagautinov tries to get the crowd fired up ahead of the final round and then the two fighters hug in the center of the Octagon before getting down to business.
Bagautinov misses with a wide, winging punch. Johnson staying composed and technical as he’s been all fight long. He reaches for a low single and then pops back up and rattles of a nice combination of punches.
Thai clinch from Johnson and a hard knee come from it. Then Bagautinov presses him against the cage and works hard for a single leg takedown.
Not happening for Bagautinov and he lets go of that, but stays in the clinch. Johnson with more knees and reverses the clinch, trying for a takedown himself. Bagautinov stops it though and Johnson instead lets off a round of left and rights.
They continue to battle in the clinch and Bagautinov tries a takedown. Johnson kind of stuffs it awkwardly and lets out a slightly strangled shout as if he might be hurt, but then continues on as if nothing happened.
They break apart for a moment and Bagautinov lands a strike and Johnson is caught off-balance a bit, but transitions into a wheel kick attempt.
A little more clinch work and then as they separate Bagautinov looks to land some bombs and Johnson expertly bobs and weaves away from it.
Back to the clinch they go and the round comes to a close.
Decision:
Johnson never had Bagautinov badly hurt in this fight, but he was a step ahead of him at all times in this assured display of mixed martial arts and that’s reflected in the clean sweep on the secorecards (50-45 x3).
