Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson got the better of Ian McCall over another three competitive rounds of action to secure his place in the flyweight final tonight at ‘UFC On FX 3’.
Johnson did a good job in the first round of using his speed advantage, allowing him to make McCall miss often while being able to dart in and out to land his own strikes.
He was also able to stuff an early takedown attempt from McCall and landed the best punch of the round, dropping McCall briefly with a short right hand.
After struggling to adjust to his opponents pace for much of the round, McCall looked to be finding his rhythm in the closing stages and he was sporting a smile on his face after managing to immediately scramble out of a takedown from Johnson and then rise up with a flurry of punches to his mid-section.
Onto round two and McCall came out with increased intensity and was able to secure his first takedown of the fight, though Johnson quickly popped back to his feet.
Shortly after he appeared to daze Johnson a little with a combo and that forced him to back away for a moment.
The action was stopped after a kick from McCall unintentionally strayed to Johnson’s cup, but it didn’t take him long to recover.
shortly after McCall got himself another short-lived takedown, but though Johnson gets up he doesn’t let him off the hook and manages to move around to his back while still standing. That presents the opportunity for a suplex and he takes it, but Johnson just won’t stay down.
Then Johnson works his way back into the reckoning with a quick flurry of punches that sends McCall back against the cage. They clinch against the cage and mcCall lands a nice spinning backfist as he breaks free from it.
The two exchanges strikes as the round comes to a close before mcCall finishes with a flourish by landing a little leg sweep takedown.
There’s all to play for going into the final round and it was Johnson who was getting the better of it. Getting a takedown was a big moment for him, and unlike many of their previous spells on the floor he was able to keep McCall down just long enough to make it a meaningful one.
McCall did use the fence to get back upright however and takes a right hand from Johnson as the break apart. They then start to engage and Johnson is finding a home for his punches and the momentum of the fight feels like it’s shifting in his favor.
There’s a slight sense of desperation about McCall’s work now as he presses forward looking to land something meaningful. He tries a flying knee, but it doesn’t phase Johnson.
In the closing stages McCall fights hard to secure a takedown, but it’s another blink-and-you’ll-miss-it one and it’s not enough to swing the round in his favor.
When the final bell sounds you can see in their body language that they both know that ‘Mighty Mouse’ has done enough to win, and indeed that’s how it pans out with Johnson claiming a unanimous decision verdict (29-28 x2, 30-27).
So another close, competitive fight between these two and Johnson now moves on to fight Joseph Benavidez in the flyweight final later this year, while no doubt we’ve not heard the last from McCall in the upper reaches of this division either.
