Demetrious Johnson wasn't very hospitable in welcoming Japanese star Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto to the Octagon. Kid, one of Japan's biggest stars over the last 10 years, was confused by the speed of Johnson for 15 minutes. The American cruised to a unanimous decision win, 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27, in fight No. 4 of the night at UFC 126 in Las Vegas.
Johnson's decision victory was actually the first of the night. The previous three fights ended via KO or TKO.
"Mighty Mouse" fought at a measured pace, he wasn't about to become another highlight reel victim of Yamamoto.
"He has good striking and he hits hard," Johnson told UFC analyst Joe Rogan. "People can say 'oh that's boring,' but we both have good footwork and we both understand our range so well. So if I overextended, I'm gonna get knocked out like everyone else does in the past from that right hook of his."
Johnson (9-1, 1-0 UFC) used his striking to set up excellent takedowns. Yamamoto was a great high school wrestler in Arizona and had hopes of making the Japanese Olympic team, but he couldn't figure out how to stop Johnson's takedowns. The American was successful on 10 takedown attempts. Give credit to Yamamoto, he rose quickly to his feet after six of those takedowns, but the damage on the scorecards had been done. As the fight went along, Yamamoto (18-4-1, 0-1 UFC) took more risks on the feet, missed with most of his punches and found himself on his back.
UFC 126 undercard (Courtesy MMAjunkie):
Mike Pierce def. Kenny Robertson via TKO (punches) - Round 2, 0:29.
Kyle Kingsbury def. Ricardo Romero via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 0:21.
Paul Taylor def. Gabe Ruediger via KO (strikes) - Round 2, 1:42.
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