Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Pound-for-Pound Men

3. Demetrious Johnson

I personally chose Johnson as the second greatest fighter ever, but he received two first-place votes as well, ending third overall. I can't argue with anyone who considers him the greatest ever, as much of what I wrote about my own No. 1 pick, Jose Aldo, also applies to the amazing “Mighty Mouse.” His career began and looks to end at bantamweight, where, despite being ridiculously undersized, Johnson has still had plenty of success, coming in as the 10th greatest fighter at that weight according to Sherdog. Yet between the two ends of his career, Johnson established a run of dominance and greatness at flyweight that may not be matched for decades.

Johnson was a nearly perfect fighter in every way, and unlike current champion Deiveson Figueiredo, that especially included his cardio, the greatest in the sport's history, and his fight IQ and mental preparation, certainly among the very best as well. He consistently made great decisions throughout a fight, even very deep into the final stanza. Additionally, he had phenomenal grappling, an outstanding mix of wrestling and BJJ, and excellent striking, especially his kicks, as well as his tireless and technical movement. After an initial draw that we've discussed against Ian McCall, Johnson went 13-0 at flyweight from 2012 until 2018, including an incredible 11 title defenses, a UFC record. Moreover, very few of these fights were remotely close. His victories include decisively beating McCall in the rematch, winning a tight decision over Joseph Benavidez for the first UFC flyweight crown despite being a significant underdog, brutally knocking out Benavidez in the first round in their rematch, defeating the very dangerous and skilled John Dodson twice by decision, achieving late fifth round submissions over John Moraga, Ray Borg, and Kyoji Horiguchi, the last a second before fight ended, earlier sub-missions over Wilson Reis and Chris Cariaso, five round beatings of Ali Bagautinov and Tim Elliott, and a quick knockout of Henry Cejudo in their first encounter. Despite Johnson likely being slightly past his prime for the Cejudo rematch and his great opponent turning in the fight of his life, it's still an open question who actually won, so evenly matched were the duo. A lot of fans don't appreciate Johnson's greatness since he fights in the relatively neglected and overlooked fly-weight division, and that's a crying shame.

Continue Reading » Number 2