With the retirement of Georges St Pierre and the fall of Anderson Silva, the UFC’s pound for pound best fighter list is experiencing some flux. Well, at last night’s UFC on FOX Sports 9 event, UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson made his case for inclusion with a resounding KO win over nemesis Joseph Benavidez in roughly two minutes. One sign of the disrespect Johnson gets is that this was a practical pick ’em fight, despite Johnson’s previous win over Benavidez and multiple title defenses he has notched. Watching the UFC event, the full effect of Team Alpha Male’s hype train could be felt. In earlier matches, Benavidez’s teammates Urijah Faber and Chad Mendes both won in their attempts to stake a claim at yet another title shot. At this level, fighting with the comfort of all your teammates in the locker room, and having them winning and building momentum, Benavides could not have asked for a better case scenario heading into the fight. But it is time for honest assessment. Benavidez walked into a more skilled and complete fighter, and he got knocked out. Benavidez is at a crossroads after proving he’s the clear-cut number two flyweight in the promotion, but he simply can’t beat the champ. It’s an unenviable position. For his part, Mendes has been strong in his asserting himself as the number two guy in the featherweight division, but his last title shot went badly, and the second shot at Jose Aldo could probably end just as badly. There is talk of Urijah Faber getting yet another shot at the UFC gold, but he has failed to win several times already. But in Demetrious Johnson, you have a Joe Louis type of clean living, high-skilled amicable and marketable champion who has spent the last year erasing every challenge before him. Because the lighter weight classes feature athletes that are faster and more technical, to reel off a series of title defenses with an incredible array of techniques could be more difficult, but Johnson has pulled it off with flourish. If Johnson does not wind up in the top five pound-for-pound in the world, then the people voting simply don’t know fighting. UFC on Fox 9 Highlights: 125 lb. title: Demetrious Johnson vs Joseph Benavidez
135 lbs.: Urijah Faber vs. Michael McDonald