UFC 259 was one of the biggest events of 2021. Three title fights headlined the card. Peter Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling for the UFC bantamweight championship was one of them.
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The fight between Yan and Sterling ended controversially after an illegal knee by ‘No Mercy’ cost him his UFC bantamweight title. Lots of fighters weighed in with their opinion on the decision and the latest one to do so is former UFC flyweight champion, Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson.
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Johnson, in a recent interview, said, “I kneed a guy in his face to when I fought Yuya Wakamatsu, I was kneeing him.”
This is not the first time ‘Mighty Mouse’ has voiced his feelings about the decision.
Heres the thing you cant stall the fight by sitting on your knees. Knees to a grounded opponent should be allowed!
— Demetrious Johnson (@MightyMouse) March 7, 2021
Demetrious Johnson on Aljamain Sterling’s position
Even though Yan received a lot of criticism for the knee and many believed that it was the right decision to strip him of the title, Johnson had a different take on it. ‘Mighty Mouse’ also revealed his thoughts on Sterling‘s position before Yan kneed him.
He said, “As an athlete, I’m sitting here and watching the fight and I’m like, Aljamain, you are way better than that, you are way f**king better than that and you are sitting on your hands and knees. And these were his words, ‘I felt like I was in a safe position.’ You are in a f**king fight dawg, there is no safe position.”
Grounded knees ➡️ Guillotine
"Mighty Mouse" gets it done under ONE rules! @MightyMouse #ONEonTNT #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/YO4mzgVkXb— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) March 8, 2021
Johnson, a former UFC champion, now fights in ONE Championship, where they allow their fighters to hit their opponents with knees if and when grounded. In fact, Johnson lost his last fight against Adriano Moraes after getting hit by some massive knees. Hence, he believes that using the ground as self-defense while getting hit is not good.
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However, as rules in the UFC are different, fighters may continue to make the most out of the leeway the rules provide them. What are your thoughts on what Demetrious Johnson said? Let us know in the comments!