Long-time UFC flyweight title holder Demetrious Johnson had to battle through some serious adversity in the early stages of his fight with TUF 24 winner Tim Elliott tonight, but in the end his championship class shone through as he took control of the fight and earned a decisive unanimous decision victory.
Round One:
The main event flyweight title fight is underway!
Leg kick straight away from Johnson. Elliott just misses with a kick. Elliott barrels forward with a series of punches that Johnson backs away from.
Johnson with a nice takedown and doesn’t take too long before he pounces on a potential armbar. There’s a scramble though and it’s Elliott who ends up on top.
Not often we see Johnson on his back like this. The champion looking to scramble, but Elliott is doing well to keep him down.
Elliott working a guillotine choke now and it looks tight. Johnson trying hard to figure a way out of this and before he gets to figure it out Elliott switches to a d’arce choke. Deeply troubling times for the champion, but somehow he survives and then springs back to his feet.
Great work from Johnson, showing his championship heart, and he immediately goes on the offense with strikes to show that he’s not phased by what’s just taken place.
???
Johnson with a very nice takedown. Elliott back up though, but he’s looking very tired now and even puts his hands on his knees in the middle of the Octagon.
Sucking it up, Elliott wades forward with his chin down, firing off repeated blows to the body. He then goes upstairs with a left hook and that drops Johnson, but his eyes seem clear and he gets right back up.
???
Round Two:
Johnson looking for push kicks. A few leg kicks land for the champion. Tried looking punch misses for Elliott. Sharp offense from Johnson.
Body kick for Johnson. Winging strike from Elliott lands. Elliott presses forward with a barrage of strikes. Johnson with a takedown and Elliott looking for the guillotine choke again.
This time Johnson is able to pop his head out and switches around to Elliott’s back. He thinks about a rear-naked choke, but ends up in side control instead.
Johnson controlling position then briefly works for a kimura, then let’s it go. Good period of control for Johnson, though Elliott remaining a threat underneath him with potential submissions.
Johnson looking for the crucifix position, but then goes back to trying for a kimura. Elliott not impressed by that and he lets it go.
There’s a scramble and Elliott gets to his feet with Johnson still at his back with the body lock. Elliott does a nice job to shift position and end up on top as the round comes to a close.
Round Three:
Leg kick for Johnson. Elliott misses with a couple of his own. Another solid leg kick for Johnson. Inside leg kick this time. Elliott doing lots of his fancy footwork, but no end product. Johnson bursts forward with punches, then gets the fight to the mat, taking Elliott’s back as he does so.
Johnson almost has a rear-naked choke sinked in, but then lets it go. There’s a scramble and Elliott gets on top. Johnson tries to sweep on top, but Elliott rolls again to take the dominant position.
Johnson stands and the scrambling continues, with the champion now on top close to the cage in half-guard. He looks to solidify the position with a little over two minutes to go and starts to land some short punches to the head.
Very nice pass to side control from Johnson. Elliott briefly gets him back to guard, but then Johnson passes to side control again. Elliott tries for a submission, but the champion escapes quickly and maintains side control
Final 45 seconds and Johnson puts his knee on Elliott’s face. Elliott looking for a submission and gets Johnson back into his guard towards the conclusion of the round.
Round Four:
Johnson just short with a head kick attempt. He lands a leg kick. Elliott showboating a bit now with some weird stances and hops on one leg while trying to land kicks.
He’s enjoying his moment in the spotlight, but it lets Johnson move in and get a takedown. Johnson has his opponent’s back, then is back to side control again.
Elliott scrambles to his knees and Johnson works for a rear-naked choke, then lets it go as he did earlier in the fight. More scrambling action now and Johnson again has the challengers back.
This time the champion really goes for the rear-naked choke finish. It looks tight, but Elliott seems ok and manages to survive. Johnson gives up on it and moves back to his favored side control position.
He gets Elliott in the crucifix position and starts landing blows down on his unprotected head. Elliott does well to free up his arm.
Approaching the final minute of the round with Johnson strong in side control. He goes for a straight armbar, then changes to a kimura attempt.
He’s cranking hard on it and as Elliott scrambles he changes to the armbar again. Elliott up to the challenge though and escapes back to his feet. Elliott with a cartwheel kick attempt to end the round, though it doesn’t land.
Round Five:
Really fun fight so far, but Johnson has been controlling the action in these last couple of rounds, so Elliott needs to do something special if he wants to win the title rather than just give Johnson a tough test in the Octagon.
Body kick for Johnson and then a takedown attempt that doesn’t pay off. Elliott in on a takedown of his own now and lands it cleanly.
Elliott in Johnson’s half-guard. The champion scrambles and ends up on top. Nice work from Johnson and before long he’s made his way back to side control.
Elliott trying to lock Johnson down in order to get a stand-up, and the ref warns the champ he has to stay busy. Elliott gets him back to his full guard with half the round remaining.
Half guard for Johnson now. Looks like he’s trying to set up the kimura again, but Elliott makes it difficult for him and he can’t lock it up.
Some fun scrambling from both men and Johnson briefly falls back for an armbar, then decides against it and move back on top.
Final 30 seconds with Johnson back in half-guard and trying for that kimura set-up again as the round ends.
Decision:
So, that turned out to be far more competitive than anyone had expected, with Johnson being put in as much danger as we’ve ever seen him during his title run in the opening round.
Nevertheless, Johnson showed why he’s currently rated the No.1 pound-for-pound fighter in the sport by readjusting and gradually taking control of the fight with superior grappling to earn a unanimous decision victory (49-46 x2, 49-45).
