UFC 191: Johnson vs. Dodson 2 Date: September 5, 2015 Location: Las Vegas, Nevada Venue: MGM Grand Garden Arena Broadcast: PPV UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson Since losing to bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz in October, 2011, Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson (22-2-1) 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. But perhaps his best win to date was his submission win over Kyoji Horiguchi at UFC 186, when he set the record for the latest stoppage in UFC history with one second remaining in round five. Johnson is an amazing fighter and at UFC 191 gets to prove his P4P rank again in a rematch against Dodson. UFC Flyweight Contender John Dodson A former New Mexico State wrestling champion and part-time Chuck E. Cheese employee, John Dodson (17-6) fell in love with MMA after Greg Jackson recruited him in 2003 due to his impressive wrestling background. With Jackson guiding him, Dodson has already seen much success in MMA, winning The Ultimate Fighter 14 by knocking out future UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw. He has shown in his UFC career that he is a huge puncher for his weight class, and overall has been one of the best 125lbers in the world for over three years now. The 30-year-old is 6-1 in the UFC with his lone loss coming to Demetrious Johnson at UFC on FOX 6, and he is currently riding a three-fight win streak with wins over Darrell Monague, John Moraga and Zach Makovsky. He was supposed to fight Johnson a while ago, but due to injuries it took him until now to get his rematch, and this is going to be a great fight for the fans when it goes down. Opening UFC 191 Betting Odds Analysis: MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas made Johnson a -400 favorite (bet $400 to win $100) while Dodson opened as a +310 underdog (bet $100 to win $310) at Several Bookmakers. Dodson gave Johnson the stiffest test of his current UFC flyweight title run, stunning him with some heavy strikes in their original January 2016 bout, although he faded down the stretch as Johnson only got stronger. If it had been a three round right, it’s likely Dodson could have taken a decision, but with “Mighty Mouse” coming on strong late, he was able to capture the last two rounds convincingly and retain his title. Since that fight, Johnson has been nothing but impressive, defending his title another five times and finishing four of those bouts. Dodson, on the other hand, has suffered repeated knee injuries which have kept him from progressing and developing into a bigger threat. At this point, I feel Dodson only has a puncher’s chance as Johnson has continued to evolve and has separated himself even further from the pack in the flyweight division.
