Mighty Mouse meets his match
Johnson’s title loss to Cejudo Saturday in a split decision merits a do-over
Rematches have been a hot-button issue around the octagon as of late, and the outcome of last weekend’s twin title rematches certainly added fuel to that fiery conversation.
Coming roughly a month after the most successful UFC heavyweight champion in history, Stipe Miocic, was dethroned by Daniel Cormier and seemingly denied an immediate rematch by the looming presence of Brock Lesnar, UFC 227 closed out with a pair of championship sequels — one taking place more than two years after the original, the other coming hot on the heels of the first bout.
In the former, Henry Cejudo earned a narrow split decision victory over Demetrious Johnson, forcing “Mighty Mouse” from the flyweight throne he had held since the division’s initial title fight nearly six years ago. In the latter, former bantamweight kingpin Cody Garbrandt suffered his second straight knockout loss at the hands of teammate-turned-rival T.J. Dillashaw, who ended their rematch a little over four minutes into the opening round to close out an entertaining night of fights at Staples Center.
Rematches are always tricky and immediate rematches are even more complicated, but the fact that Garbrandt was hustled right back into the cage with Dillashaw shows that the UFC isn’t opposed to booking such contests entirely; it just seems like something they’ll evaluate on a case-by-case basis.
The problem, however, is that there have been a lot of cases recently that underscore the challenges — both real and in terms of optics — that come with not having some kind of over-arching guideline in place to handle these situations.
The bantamweight title fight presented two sides of the issue, as Garbrandt got a chance to reclaim the title right away after getting stopped in the second round at UFC 217 despite the fact that he never successfully defended the title.
Dillashaw, on the other hand, successfully defended the title twice during his first reign — earning stoppages in both cases — and then had to go through Raphael Assuncao and John Lineker in order to secure the fight with Garbrandt, and that was after he lost the belt to Dominick Cruz by split decision.
Opting out of having Miocic square off with Cormier again right away is somewhat understandable because of the opportunity to pair “DC” with Lesnar in a high profile, potentially lucrative pay-perview bout.
What makes it a harder sell is that not only was the soft-spoken, heavy-hitting Ohio native presented as the most successful heavyweight champion in UFC history, but also that seven of the last eight champions to successfully defend their title three times or more have all either received a championship bout in their next fight or were scheduled into an immediate rematch as in the case of Chris Weidman, who was forced out of his rematch with Luke Rockhold at UFC 199.
The only fighter who did not receive a title shot after defending their belt three times and dropping the title was Benson Henderson, who lost the lightweight strap to Anthony Pettis via first-round submission and had previously dropped a decision to the new champion in the WEC.
But the real test of this system — or lack of a system — will be how the UFC opts to book Johnson upon his return.
After a record-setting 11 consecutive successful title defences, Mighty Mouse lost the flyweight title to Cejudo on Saturday night by split decision, with 48-47 scores across the board.
It was an ultra-close contest that you could certainly score in favour of Johnson, as one judge did, and given that he was the first and only flyweight champion in UFC history up until Bruce Buffer bellowed the words, “And……. NEW!” into his microphone last weekend, it would stand to reason that whenever Johnson is set to return, he’ll do so in a bout for the UFC flyweight title.
“That’s a possibility too,” is how UFC president Dana White responded when asked about a championship trilogy fight between Cejudo and Johnson following the event. “That’s a possibility too.” It should be the only option. If there has ever been a champion who merits an immediate rematch, it’s Johnson.
Before Saturday night, he was unbeaten in the flyweight division and he lost by the narrowest margin possible, on a card headlined by a former champion who never successfully defended his title getting a “do-over” nine months after getting stopped in the second round.
This is where guidelines would help.
Set a threshold a champion has to reach in order to trigger an automatic rematch and stick to it no matter what. That way, a champion knows that if they successfully defend their title three, four, five times or more — whatever the number — they’re going to get a chance to challenge for the belt again should they be dethroned. Fail to reach that target number and it’s back in the queue you go to work your way toward another title opportunity.
Not only would it keep divisions from stagnating and result in fresh names fighting for titles — which in turn helps create new stars (in theory) — but it also helps prevent the situation the UFC now finds itself in with Garbrandt.
Less than two years after winning the title with a masterful performance against Dominick Cruz, the 27-yearold former champion basically has no path to fighting for the title again as long as Dillashaw holds the belt as he’s not only lost to him twice, but he was stopped both times.
The UFC is never going to be a strict meritocracy, nor will it ever have a completely formulaic approach to determine who is going to fight whom and when.
But in some instances, having guidelines for how to deal with things like championship rematches would help defuse potentially volatile situations and take some of the heat off the UFC brass.