Demetrious Johnson manhandles Kyoji Horiguchi
MONTREAL -- If we didn't know any better, we might accuse UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson of trolling.
Johnson (22-2-1) recorded his sixth UFC title defense on Saturday, submitting 24-year-old title challenger Kyoji Horiguchi via armbar in the fifth round at UFC 186 inside the Bell Centre.
The finish came with just one second left in the fight -- the latest a finish has ever occurred in UFC history. Johnson's victory seemed all but a foregone conclusion as early as the second round, but he waited until time was literally expiring to produce a tap from Horiguchi. The finish came after Johnson stepped seamlessly into the submission from full mount.
"I was getting lazy, and [head coach] Matt Hume called for an armbar," Johnson said. "I said, 'Oh, I better do what he says.'"
Johnson dominated each of the first four rounds prior to the finish. He has defeated all six title challengers he's faced in one-sided fashion. The closest anyone has come to giving him a fight in the past three years was John Dodson, who took two rounds from him in a January 2013 title fight.
The difference in his latest conquest was wrestling, as Horiguchi (15-2) could not stay on his feet even when he knew the shot was coming. According to immediate cageside statistics provided by Fightmetric, Johnson converted on 14 of 22 takedown attempts and racked up more than 13 minutes of control time.
Known primarily for his slick counterstriking, Horiguchi had spent time at American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, California, training under former Olympian and light heavyweight contender Daniel Cormier. He managed to thwart some of Johnson's early attempts to get the fight to the ground but relented more and more as the fight progressed.
"You know I had to test that wrestling," Johnson said. "He was working with [Cormier] at AKA, and I said, 'No, no, no.' Mighty Mouse's wrestling is way better than DC's.
"I didn't want to be stupid and get knocked out. I had to take my time. At the last second, I was able to finish it."
Horiguchi's best opportunities came early, as Johnson adjusted to his karate-based style. Horiguchi, who entered the fight on a 4-0 run in the UFC, connected with a couple straight left hands from the southpaw stance and he landed a thudding knee under Johnson's chin at the end of a combination, blitzing forward with his hands.
Johnson was meticulous in walking Horiguchi down, though, repeatedly trapping him against the fence. In the second round, he put Horiguchi on his butt three times with double legs and landed clean knees to his rib cage as he tried to pop back to his feet.
In the third, Horiguchi forfeited a takedown in the center of the cage after he came aggressively forward with a left hook. Johnson's grappling advantage became clear away from the cage, as he passed to side control and kept Horiguchi's back to the canvas the majority of the frame.
Blood started to trickle out of Horiguchi's nose in the fourth. His endurance held up and he even managed to take Johnson down at one point in the second round, but his victories were few and far between. He was outstruck in the fight 149 to 61.
The fifth was little more than Horiguchi trying to make it to the final bell, which he came up one second short on. Johnson continued to take him down with ease and moved to side control after one single leg. The finish basically started with Johnson winning a scramble, ending with a defeated Horiguchi tapping to Johnson with his free right arm.
Fighting out of Kirkland, Washington, Johnson is the only 125-pound champion ever in the UFC. He won the title with a split decision victory against Joseph Benavidez in September 2012. A bantamweight title fight between TJ Dillashaw and Renan Barao was originally supposed to headline UFC 186, but the bout fell through due to a rib injury to Dillashaw.
