On Wednesday night, perhaps the greatest mixed martial artist in the history of the sport, former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, once again had all the spotlight on him. Johnson’s first attempt at the ONE flyweight championship was the feature bout of ONE’s first-ever show on a major American TV network – as “Mighty Mouse” was still arguably the top flyweight in the world and seemingly hadn’t lost a step since his controversial UFC departure, the idea that he’d walk out with gold around his waist seemed fated.
It was a show built around two former UFC champions, names the casual fans would know, against two of ONE’s homegrown talents. They went 0-2. And Johnson – who had lost just twice in the last decade, and both to world champions in Dominick Cruz and Henry Cejudo – was left laying, when ONE titleholder Adriano Moraes became the first fighter ever to finish Mighty Mouse.
Moraes has been a ONE mainstay for over seven years, three times a champion in the Singapore-based organization, with a reputation for some pop on the feet and some of the slickest jiu-jitsu skills in the sport. Still, his accomplishments paled in comparison to the three letters that, for most, encompass the entire sport: “U.F.C.”
Johnson had dominated the UFC flyweight division for years, and when he was traded to ONE in 2018, most expected he’d have little trouble sweeping away all the competition and ruling forever. By dint of having succeeded in the Octagon, he was their better. But Moraes shattered that illusion on Wednesday with an uppercut, a vicious knee, and a series of punches that put Johnson away.
People had similar expectations for former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, after he signed with ONE following years swimming at the top of the deepest division in MMA. Alvarez also left a loser on Wednesday night, but in much different circumstances: after a very hot start against talented young Moldovan Iuri Lapicus, Alvarez was hit with a controversial disqualification for punches to the back of the head.
Alvarez will have a very good argument for a TKO win, but it served as just another reminder that his tenure in ONE simply has not gone the way he wanted. In his debut, previously little-known Russian Timofey Nastyukhin put him on dream street with his thunderous fists. And in his second fight in the ONE circle, former champion Eduard Folayang nearly knocked him out himself before Alvarez rallied to win. Three fights into his ONE career, and Eddie Alvarez, who was fighting guys like Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje in the UFC, has yet to crack ONE’s rankings.
The UFC will, at least for the foreseeable future, always be the No. 1 destination for the sport of mixed martial arts. No other organization can match its depth, resources, and certainly name recognition – many still know the sport simply as “UFC.” But Wednesday night was just another example of something not enough MMA fans know: not all of the world’s best fighters fight in the UFC.
The UFC isn’t the only place to see mixed martial arts at the highest level. Eddie Alvarez was once proof of this himself, in a different way: once Bellator’s top star, he jumped to the UFC and rose to the top. His greatest rival in Bellator, Michael Chandler, may have UFC gold around his waist himself by spring’s end. Although the UFC may have other organizations beat for depth, at the very top level, it’s a lot closer than you might think.
The video of Demetrious Johnson hitting the deck on Wednesday night was a stunning highlight that swept through social media, but it was more than just that. It’s not that Johnson has lost a step. It’s that the competition around the world is a little bit tougher than a lot of people expected. And if you’re an MMA fan, it should have been a signal: you owe it to yourself to broaden your horizons beyond just the UFC.
The Big Fight 