Will Demetrious Johnson make History at UFC 215?

Demetrious Johnson is ready for whoever comes his way next.
Demetrious Johnson is ready for whoever comes his way next.

By Kyler Kuehler

Flyweight Champion and number two ranked pound-for-pound fighter Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson (26-2-1) will defend his title against number three ranked flyweight Ray Borg (11-2-0) in the main event at UFC 215 set to air on September 9, 2017, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Ever since the flyweight division was introduced to the UFC back in 2012 Johnson has been on a roll since winning the title against Joseph Benavidez at UFC 152 and defeating every opponent he has faced giving him a total of ten title defenses tying him with former Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, who held the title for seven years until finally meeting his match against former champion Chris Weidman at UFC 162.

For how successful of a champion Johnson has become and for the fact he has merely cleaned the division fans can now only wonder if he will make history at UFC 215 and take the crown with the most title defenses in the UFC.

For the time being it looks highly possible that he indeed will make history, but before anyone gets too excited we must not forget about Ray Borg and the fact that Johnson must first defeat him in order to seal his success as the new king of title defenses.

Indeed Johnson brings many styles of fighting to this fight including; boxing kickboxing, Muay Thai, Pankration, and wrestling that has made him well-rounded along with giving him knockout power, grappling control and cardio, but let’s not eave Borg off the map yet.

Now, yes, I know his record does not seem that impressive with only eleven wins and two losses making it appear as if he stands no chance in this fight, but when looking further into his style it comes to light that he just might have a chance at causing an upset even if his chances still are not good.

First off, he does have striking even though he has only won one fight in his entire career via knockout/TKO, so it’s not likely he could finish Johnson with strikes. But he does have some pretty well-rounded jiu-jitsu as he has won six fights via submission and that could play a huge factor in trying to counter Johnson’s wrestling that has helped him win many of his fights via both submission and decision.

Speaking of decision victories, Borg has four of them under his belt and though it’s nowhere near Johnson’s eleven decision victories it still gives him the possibility of finding away to truly test his skills and see just how much he matches up to Johnson with the hopes of maybe ending his reign as champion.

But Johnson has never been a man to joke with and if he continues with his performance the way he has been ever since stepping foot inside the octagon then Borg just might be in for a big reality check and fans all around the world will indeed see history be made once UFC 215 is over.