Charles Johnson became the LFA interim flyweight champion on Friday when he defeated Yuma Horiuchi in a highly competitive bout.
Johnson (9-2) easily overtook Yamauchi (8-4) over the course of five rounds at the LFA 110 Main Event at the Grand Casino Hotel & Resort in Shawnee, Oklahoma, winning a split decision 49-45, 46-48, 48 -46 to pick up the gold. The fight was streamed on the UFC Fight Pass.
Whether Johnson will remain interim champion or be promoted to the undisputed title holder remains to be seen. Reigning champ Victor Altamirano will be booked for Dana White’s Contender series this fall, and if he wins a UFC contract he’ll be vacating. If not, he will return to LFA in a clash with Johnson.
The first round was largely an emotional process, with Johnson and Horiuchi both throwing a ton of kicks at each other. Kick kicks and body punches were the method of choice, and while Horiuchi was the more effective kicker, it was a Johnson right hand that staggered his opponent, creating the greatest moment of the first five minutes.
Horiuchi was fully recovered in the second round and stepped on. After throwing too many kicks to count them, he went up twice and tagged Johnson who wiped them off, claiming he wasn’t injured. Johnson was noisy in the cage too, talking to Horiuchi about trash in his native Japanese while trying to process his attacks. Horiuchi landed an accidental low blow, which immediately resulted in a point deduction.
With the urgency of the point deduction, Horiuchi picked up the pace before the third round. He squeezed Johnson to the back of his foot and continued to kick and counter-punch Johnson to minimize offensive effectiveness. Horiuchi was starting to show some damage around his left eye from previous strokes, but that didn’t stop him from attacking for the rest of the lap.
The fight reached the championship rounds and Horiuchi was in full flow. He pushed Johnson backwards into the cage, throwing combinations of punches on his body and head, and didn’t have to worry too much about what was in store for him. Horiuchi largely controlled the pace, but an exhausted Johnson did his best to stay competitive.
The story goes on
Johnson’s corner gave him a motivational speech that went in the last frame and it worked. He came out and tried to force Horiuchi into his face. Horiuchi didn’t back away, however, and rammed a few blows into the body. Johnson succeeded with some good jabs and straight punches, and had some of his best moments during the fight when the damage added up to Horiuchi’s face.
Both the men and their team felt that when the decision was read out they had an argument for victory, but only one could emerge victorious, and two out of three judges saw it for Johnson.
“I’m disappointed with myself,” said Johnson in his post-fight interview with Alan Jouban. “I feel like I didn’t fight with my ability, but at the same time I got away with victory today. I feel like I won the fight, I just didn’t fight to the best of my ability. “
Full LFA 110 results include:
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Charles johnson def. Yuma Horiuchi by split decision (49-45, 46-48, 48-46) – intermediate victory
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Renato Valente def. Chibwikem Onyenegecha by split decision (30-27, 28-29, 30-26)
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Christian Natividad def. Luis Aguirre by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-26)
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Jaqueline Amorim def. Megan Owen on Knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:10
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Oscar Herrera def. Arpan Gurung by Submission (Armbar) – Round 2, 3:17
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