UFC 186: Johnson vs Horiguchi Date: April 25, 2015 Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada Venue: Bell Centre Broadcast: PPV UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson Since losing to bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz in October, 2011, Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson (21-2-1) has taken over the UFC’s flyweight division with relative ease. He won the UFC’s four-man flyweight tournament with wins over Ian McCall and Joseph Benavidez to become the first-ever 125lb champ, then he defeated John Dodson via decision in his first title defence. He then followed that up with a submission win over John Moraga to once again defend the belt, and then at UFC on FOX 9 he knocked out Benavidez in their rematch to cement his place as the No. 1 flyweight fighter on the entire planet. He then followed that up with a decision win over Ali Bagautinov at UFC 174 and a submission win over Chris Cariaso at UFC 177 to continue moving up the P4P ranks. Now he’s set to take on youngster Kyoji Horiguchi, and they’ll square off in the main event of UFC 186 after an injury delayed TJ Dillashaw’s bantamweight title defense. UFC Flyweight Contender Kyoji Horiguchi A karate standout, 24-year-old Japan native Kyoji Horiguchi (15-1) has looked sensational since joining the UFC in 2013. He’s 4-0 so far with wins over Louis Gaudinot, Jon Delos Reyes, Darrell Montague and Dustin Pague and looks better and better every time out. A product of Krazy Bee, Horiguchi has been one of the top flyweight prospects for a while and it was only a matter of time that he got this sort of a push. He has sensational striking and he’s shown his power in the UFC with his ground and pound TKO over Pague. He told the UFC he wanted more time to develop his skills but the promotion lacked options for a title fight and now the youngster will take on the UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson in the main event of UFC 186 in what is by far the biggest fight of his career to date. Opening UFC 186 Analysis: MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas made Johnson a -505 favorite (bet $505 to win $100) while Horiguchi opened as a +335 underdog (bet $100 to win $335) at Several Bookmakers. Johnson has been an extremely dominant champion in the UFC and it’s hard to see him losing anytime soon, especially to someone as unproven at the highest level of the sport like Horiguchi. There’s no doubt the young Japanese standout has been solid in the UFC, going 4-0 overall in the Octagon and showing some good striking, but it’s hard to see him losing to Johnson. Johnson is just too good. He’s an amazing wrestler, his striking gets better every time we see him, and he has great submissions too. He’s just a stud. And that’s why you see the line as high as it is, because this is absolutely a fight the champion should win.
