5 reasons why Demetrious Johnson is the greatest MMA fighter of all time

#4 He’s somehow getting better

Inside observers such as Joe Rogan and Dana White have been hailing Johnson as a pound-for-pound great and one of the all time greats for years now, so you’d think that realistically, his skills would probably have peaked, right?

You’d be horribly wrong. Somehow, not only is Johnson able to stay leaps and bounds beyond his challengers, but he’s also managing to improve his own game to the point where he looks better in each and every fight.

Take a look at his evolution from the first John Dodson fight to the second one. In the first one, while DJ was able to win the fight based on his takedowns, strong clinch work and superior cardio during the later rounds, in the striking portions he was largely beaten – Dodson knocked him down twice and had him in serious trouble on numerous occasions.

In their rematch, though, Johnson had improved his stand-up to the point where not only could Dodson not land on him, but he was eating jabs and combinations throughout the fight. The tools that allowed DJ to win the first match barely figured.

Sometimes – like the Timothy Elliott fight – he somehow appears to improve mid-fight. Elliott took the first round from Johnson using his sneaky grappling game, but Johnson managed to adjust after that round and then went on to thoroughly out-grapple the challenger for four further rounds.

Add in his innovative side too – witness the insane German suplex-into-armbar finish of Ray Borg – and you’ve got a recipe for a fighter who hasn’t even reached his ceiling yet. Which is scary.