It all went down last night (Sat., Dec. 3, 2016) at TUF 24 Finale live on FOX Sports 1 from inside Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, as current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) flyweight king Demetrious Johnson put his elusive title on the line opposite Ultimate Fighter winner Tim Elliott. Surprisingly, the main event title fight was much closer than expected.
After Elliot rushed in and landed a front kick to the champion’s face, he nearly locked in a guillotine choke before switching to a D’Arce choke early in Round 1. In one of the rare moments that Johnson has been in trouble inside of the Octagon, he escaped just in time. However, Elliott landed a stiff left hook exiting the clinch towards the end of the frame that stunned the champion, nearly following it up with an illegal soccer kick then a timely takedown. In Round 2, Johnson would begin to find his groove, taking Elliott’s back and pressing the action on the ground. With unworldly cardio, “Mighty Mouse” peppered Elliott with persistent ground-and-pound, not allowing the TUF winner to catch his breath.
Johnson would continue to test Elliott’s grappling in Round 3. But with timely sweeps, short strikes and sound submission defense, Elliott made it difficult for “Mighty Mouse” to work unscathed. It was much of the same in Round 4 as the champion quickly shot in for a takedown and dragged Elliott to the canvas. Once there, Johnson threatened with a nasty rear-naked choke and kimura attempt, but the challenger hung in tough. While Elliott landed a huge takedown to begin the final round, Johnson would control the action and cruise to yet another successful title defense, this one via unanimous decision.
The full video highlights can be seen above courtesy of UFC.
With this win, Johnson locks down his ninth-straight UFC title defense. As the champion of a division with little to offer, “Mighty Mouse” may ultimately decide to make a move back up to bantamweight in 2017 to prove he really is the pound-for-pound best. But if he’s up for a trilogy fight at flyweight, Joseph Benavidez is ready to rock.
For complete TUF 24 Finale results and coverage click here.
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