What's so bad about the familiar routine of a Demetrious Johnson UFC title defense?

It’s almost time for another Demetrious Johnson UFC flyweight title defense, and you know what that means. It means it’s also time for the media odes to his greatness, the fan apathy in the face of same, and the inevitable process that ends with the belt being wrapped around his waist while the people in suits wait for the TV ratings to tell them the same old story.

Nearly five years into his title reign, these are the things we know about “Mighty Mouse” Johnson heading into his title defense at UFC on FOX 24 on Saturday night:

1. He is the best 125-pound fighter on the planet, and the gap between him and the first runner-up is a canyon whose floor is littered with the bones of those who’ve tried to cross it.

2. This fact does not seem to impress people like you’d expect. Or, well, maybe it impresses them, but not in the way where they’re willing to break into a Best Buy just to be close to a TV when he fights.

3. The disconnect between Nos. 1 and 2 is a source of constant fascination and focus for those of us in the MMA bubble.

It used to be that the thing to do with that disconnect was to reach for an explanation. Is it the weight class? Is it Johnson’s fighting style? Is it the lack of credible, compelling rivals? Is it his refusal to sell himself to us or his complete lack of interest in the lukewarm response he evokes?

And sure, it might be all of those to varying degrees, depending on when and whom you ask. But at this point, does it really matter? Johnson (25-2-1 MMA, 13-1-1 UFC) is the champ. His challengers come one at a time, served up on a conveyor belt and then dumped back into the pile once he’s done with them. We watch it or don’t, understand it or don’t, then it’s over and the whole routine starts again a few months later.

The whole thing has come to seem pretty routine, in other words, and nobody gets that excited about a routine.

This is at least some of the problem for Johnson. Concerns about weight class and fighting style and charisma aside, he is a dominant champ with no real challengers, and it’s been a long time since we’ve seen him in a fight where the outcome didn’t seem preordained. At this point, the most interesting thing about him is that people aren’t more interested in him, despite his almost universally acknowledged brilliance as a fighter.

Then you’ve got challenger Wilson Reis coming for the belt. Good fighter, Reis (22-6 MMA, 6-2 UFC). Tough guy. Riding a three-fight winning streak, and no one really objects to him getting this shot because, hey, why not? Sooner or later every UFC flyweight will get a chance to lose to Johnson, the No. 1 fighter in the USA TODAY Sports MMA pound-for-pound and flyweight rankings. Once that’s done, he can start the list over again. Everybody just stay in line, and the champion will see you shortly.

It’s not the kind of fight game narrative that’s going to set anybody’s hair on fire, even as Johnson chases down history in the form of Anderson Silva’s record for consecutive title defenses. Silva’s reign as UFC middleweight champ was stormy and unpredictable. Johnson’s path to tying it has felt less like a single-season home run chase and more like Cal Ripken Jr. going after Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games record.

That’s how good Johnson is. Fighting and beating the best flyweights on the planet seems, for him, about as difficult as showing up.

The hard part about achieving that kind of dominance is that there’s nowhere to go but down. Because sure, Johnson could lose. He could get old or slow or run into someone better, and he could get beat. He could run into someone who’s not better, and he could still get beat.

And fine, go ahead and hope for that break in the routine if it helps you. Johnson probably wouldn’t mind. Neither would the UFC, as long as you still watch. Just don’t be surprised if you wind up back here again a few months from now, wondering why this guy won’t stop winning, regardless of whether or not anyone cares.

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