A dozen years ago, Demetrious Johnson made history.
“Mighty Mouse” outworked Joseph Benavidez for a split decision in the final of a four-man tournament to become the UFC’s inaugural flyweight champion. It was the start of a run in the division that will be hard to topple.
Johnson defended the 125-pound title 11 consecutive times before he lost it in a highly debatable split decision to Henry Cejudo at UFC 227 a little more than six years ago. After that, he moved to ONE Championship, where he won that promotion’s 135-pound title before he recently announced his retirement.
On the anniversary of that first UFC flyweight title fight, take a look back at Johnson’s UFC title wins while he was considered by many to be the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport.
Johnson def. Joseph Benavidez, UFC 152
Johnson def. John Dodson, UFC on FOX 6
Johnson def. John Moraga, UFC on FOX 8
Johnson def. Joseph Benavidez, UFC on FOX 9
Johnson def. Ali Bagautinov, UFC 174
Johnson def. Chris Cariaso, UFC 178
Johnson def. Kyogi Horiguchi, UFC 186
Johnson def. John Dodson, UFC 191
Johnson def. Henry Cejudo, UFC 197
Gallery
Henry Cejudo def. Demetrious Johnson at UFC 227: Best photos
Johnson def. Tim Elliott, TUF 24 Finale
Johnson def. Wilson Reis, UFC on FOX 24
Johnson def. Ray Borg, UFC 216
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: This date in MMA history: Demetrious Johnson starts historic UFC flyweight title reign
