Unlike other sports, statistics in MMA do not provide a complete breakdown of what is going on during the action, but they can still create an interesting storyline. UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson has been described as lacking the drawing power of many of the other champions due to his fighting style. However, his stats output shows an interesting trend in his performances.
Every time “Mighty Mouse” steps into the Octagon, Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg fawn over the pace of action that he keeps. Looking closer at his Fight Metric numbers, it’s clear that he blows the competition away in many key areas.
Johnson has fought under the Zuffa banner since 2010, and since that date there hasn’t been an opponent that has been able to land more significant strikes. Even in the two fights that he lost — to Brad Pickett and Dominick Cruz at bantamweight — he still found a way to land a higher volume of shots.
Since becoming the UFC’s first flyweight champion at UFC 152, Johnson has set a blistering work rate in the Octagon. Including the fight against Joseph Benavidez where he won the title, he has outlanded his opponents in the significant strikes category with 411 strikes of his own, compared to just 173 by his opponents. He’s landing more than twice as many significant strikes each time he competes, an astounding number when you take into account that he’s fighting other guys who buzz around the cage just as he does.
Unfortunately for Johnson, however, MMA fans have been trained to label any fighter that isn’t finishing as “boring.” This is despite having one of the most active fighting styles of any champion to date. And when compared to other current titleholders, Johnson has shown a propensity to finish fights as often as any of the rest. The fact that lighter weight classes do not get the same kind of adulation as the heavier fighters has hindered Johnson’s star power, but his activity shows that he can keep up with anyone in the cage.
Four defenses into his title reign, Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson doesn’t yet have the resume to take the pound-for-pound crown away from Jon Jones anytime soon. Still, one look at his stats as champion will show a level of offensive output that should be praised alongside any of his pound-for-pound contemporaries. And if he continues this type of run, it will not be long before he is seriously considered the statistical best that this sport has to offer.
