Demetrious Johnson wins Grand Prix title with dominant defeat of Danny Kingad

At Saturday’s ONE: Century card, former UFC flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson stepped into the cage with Team Lakay star Danny Kingad in the final of the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix.

Johnson utilized pressure from the get-go, landing multiple takedowns and gluing himself to his opponent on the mat. As the round wore down, he threatened briefly with a kimura. When the tap failed to materialize, he climbed into full mount before a scramble ended the round. While ONE Championship fights are scored in their entirety rather than round-by-round, it was a clear victory for Johnson in the first.

Round two began with a nice leg kick from Kingad. Then it was back to the mat courtesy of a Johnson double-leg. Once on the canvas, Johnson flaunted his grappling excellence, threatening with a number of submissions, flowing from dominant position to dominant position. It was another big round for the former UFC champ, though Kingad stung him with a huge punch in the final moments. Johnson returned to his corner with a swollen eye.

The tale of round three was reminiscent of rounds one and two. Takedowns and ground dominance from the former UFC champ Johnson. While Kingad was able to scramble into top position for a period, it wasn’t long before Johnson had reclaimed that position for himself. Another massive stanza for Johnson.

Suffice it to say that there was no surprise when the judges awarded Demetrious Johnson a unanimous decision victory, making him the ONE Flyweight Grand Prix Champion.

The former UFC champ left the ONE Championship cage with a new and shimmering silver belt slung over his shoulder.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/13/2019.