The 3 times Demetrious Johnson was pushed to his limit in the UFC

The level of competition in the UFC today is the highest it's ever been in the company's history and with the explosion in popularity of MMA as a sport and as a training regimen, it's hardly surprising. Talents from different parts of the world are coming in to make a name for themselves in the world's largest fight promotion and rightfully so, as the both the sport and the athletes have evolved and continue to do so, at a furious pace.

It is considering that we are in the midst of such a highly competitive environment that one has to be even more impressed with the dominance of a certain Demetrious Johnson over the UFC's Flyweight division. The dimunitive champion has held a stranglehold on the division since he became the inaugural champion in 2012. While there have been dominant champions in the game whose reigns coincided with Johnson's (Silva, Jones, GSP), it's only he who has remained champion from the time he became one, over four 4 years ago.

That doesn't mean that he has been indestructible the whole time. Like any other fighter competing at the highest level, 'Mighty Mouse' too has been in precarious positions in his fights, especially earlier on in his career. But like a true champ, he has battled back from them to get better and become the most dominant champion in the sport today. This weekend, as he sets out to defend his Flyweight title for the record 9th time, let's take  alook back at the three fights where he was pushed to the absolute limit inside the octagon.