In an impressive comeback Thursday night at WEC 52, Demetrious Johnson was beaten up in the first round by Damacio Page, only to come back, take control of the fight in the second round and submit Page in the third.
"I had to be smart, draw him in and take him down," Johnson said afterward. "And I'm in way better shape than he is."
Page threw Johnson to the ground and got into side control early in the first round, and by the midway point of the round Page had moved into full mount. Johnson did manage to get back up, but only for a few seconds before Page again secured a great throw and got on top of Johnson on the ground. Johnson was game and active as he always is, but Page was simply too strong for the tiny Johnson in the first round.
In the second round Johnson landed a hard kick to Page's groin, leading to a stop in the action, and even after five minutes Page didn't seem to be completely recovered, as Johnson was able to take him down, get on top of him and batter him with ground and pound. It was a very good round for Johnson.
At the start of the second Johnson exploded, landed a hard combination, knocked Page down and got on top of him again, and from there he methodically worked his way into a guillotine choke from the top, forcing Page to tap at the 2:27 mark of the third.
Page, who has been recovering from shoulder surgery, was fighting for the first time in 2010. He may have run out of steam because of ring rust, or he may have been affected by that low blow, but whatever the case, he clearly didn't have as much gas in the tank as Johnson, whose record improves to 7-1. Page falls to 15-5.
"I had to be smart, draw him in and take him down," Johnson said afterward. "And I'm in way better shape than he is."
Page threw Johnson to the ground and got into side control early in the first round, and by the midway point of the round Page had moved into full mount. Johnson did manage to get back up, but only for a few seconds before Page again secured a great throw and got on top of Johnson on the ground. Johnson was game and active as he always is, but Page was simply too strong for the tiny Johnson in the first round.
In the second round Johnson landed a hard kick to Page's groin, leading to a stop in the action, and even after five minutes Page didn't seem to be completely recovered, as Johnson was able to take him down, get on top of him and batter him with ground and pound. It was a very good round for Johnson.
At the start of the second Johnson exploded, landed a hard combination, knocked Page down and got on top of him again, and from there he methodically worked his way into a guillotine choke from the top, forcing Page to tap at the 2:27 mark of the third.
Page, who has been recovering from shoulder surgery, was fighting for the first time in 2010. He may have run out of steam because of ring rust, or he may have been affected by that low blow, but whatever the case, he clearly didn't have as much gas in the tank as Johnson, whose record improves to 7-1. Page falls to 15-5.
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