UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson earned a somewhat surprising upset win over Conor McGregor last night at the ESPY’s when he won the fan-voted ‘Fighter of The Year’ award.
Not only did Johnson beat out McGregor to claim the trophy, but also several boxing stars like Terence Crawford, Gennady Golovkin, and Andre Ward.
‘Mighty Mouse’ is certainly a worthy winner of the award, having now drawn level with Anderson Silva for the most consecutive title defenses in UFC history, with his tenth win coming by war of armbar against Wilson Reis back in April.
Johnson is widely recognised as the No.1 pound-for-pound fighter in the sport and is unbeaten in his 13-fight stint in the UFC’s 125lb division.
This is the third year in a row that a UFC fighter has scooped up the ‘Fighter of The Year’ award at the ESPY’s, with Ronda Rousey winning it in 2015, while last year it was Conor McGregor’s turn to receive the accolade at the star-studded event.
Johnson enjoys far less fan fare and media attention than either of those two UFC superstars however, which will only make his victory all the sweeter, and will serve as a timely reminder to the bigwigs back at UFC HQ that ‘Mighty Mouse’ is a valuable asset to the company, regardless of whether he’s a draw on pay-per-view or not.
