Demetrious Johnson looked to extend his run as the UFC’s lone flyweight champion in a rematch against John Dodson on Saturday night at UFC 191. The card took place from Las Vegas and was split between pay-per-view, Fox Sports 1, and UFC Fight Pass. The 11-fight card saw a main card which was worth forgetting, some competitive bouts early, a Joe Riggs bout being exactly what you’d expect of a Joe Riggs bout in 2015, and a phenomenal prelim on paper that was just that in practice. When all was said and done, six favorites had their hand raised, while five underdogs pulled off victories based on Several Bookmakers closing odds. Here’s how all the results broke down. Favorites That Won Demetrious Johnson controlled his entire 25-minute bout with John Dodson to pick up another unanimous decision against his biggest rival. This fight was nowhere near as close as the first, as Dodson didn’t manage to land anything of consequence, and Johnson’s characteristic pressure wore down the challenger by the end of the second round to remove any semblance of competitiveness from the bout. In the end the judges scored it 49-46, 49-46, and 50-45 across the board for the -540 favorite, and he extended his run of title defenses to seven. It wasn’t the prettiest fight, but Andrei Arlovski picked up his fourth consecutive win since rejoining the UFC with a unanimous decision over Frank Mir. While Mir earned top position on a couple occasions, he could do nothing with it, and Arlovski landed the better strikes on the feet to sway the judges in his favor. By the time the opening bell rang, Arlovski was a -150 favorite. Anthony Johnson came out, landed a few punches, and then wrestled for the majority of round one. It seemed like we were on our way to another lackluster performance on the main card, but ‘Rumble’ was just biding his time trying to show that he still carried his power into round two. It took just 26 seconds for the -705 favorite to land a massive right hook on Jimi Manuwa and follow up with some pinpoint ground-and-pound to close the show. Although he was an underdog for the majority of the week, Corey Anderson ended up closing as a -110 favorite in his bout against Jan Blachowicz. The late money was all right as Blachowicz tired early and Anderson took the fight over in the second and third rounds with wrestling, ground-and-pound, and overall activity. It was an excellent rebound for the TUF winner after his first career loss. Paige VanZant was in a clear showcase fight to open the pay-per-view, and she dominated every second she was in the cage with Alex Chambers. VanZant closed as a -1400 favorite, by far the largest on a card of big favorites. As has repeatedly been the story with the young prospect, she used her incredible pace to wear down her opponent and score her second third-round stoppage in her UFC career. The only favorite on the preliminary card to emerge victorious shouldn’t have been on the preliminary card at all. John Lineker and Francisco Rivera put on perhaps the greatest two-minute fight in UFC history, as the two combined for 100 strikes thrown in just 128 seconds. Surprisingly it was the former flyweight Lineker who walked through Rivera’s shots and dropped his opponent before locking up a guillotine choke for the submission victory. Lineker closed as a -150 favorite. Underdogs That Won Ross Pearson and Paul Felder fought seven and six weeks ago, respectively. Pearson was outwrestled for three rounds, while Felder went through a war. Those previous fights seemed to play a role in their featured prelim role, as Pearson was quicker to the punch for the majority of the 15 minutes en route to winning a decision as a sizable +375 underdog. Raquel Pennington jumped on Jessica Andrade’s back in a late round two scramble and coaxed the tap out of the Brazilian just before the round expired. Pennington took the first step on her “revenge tour” where she hopes to avenge all of her recent losses on her way to a bantamweight title shot, and at +155 those who backed her were rewarded nicely. In one of the night’s multiple split decisions, Tiago Trator emerged victorious over Clay Collard as a +130 underdog. Collard had the flashier moments during the fight, including a knockdown of Trator in the second round, but the Brazilian was steadier throughout, particularly on the ground, and did enough to earn two of the judges’ cards. The strangest occurrence of the night was definitely the Joe Riggs/Ron Stallings bout. In the opening round, Stallings landed a jab which immediately injured Riggs’ right eye. Stallings likely took the first round from the flurry that followed him recognizing the injury, but Riggs survived the round. The second started with Riggs dropping Stallings and landing several huge elbows from top position. Unfortunately, Stallings landed an upkick to a downed Riggs that forced a break in the action. During that break, the doctor stopped the fight as Riggs couldn’t see out of the previously injured eye. Referee Jason Herzog deemed the stoppage due to the illegal kick, and Riggs was declared the winner via disqualification. No doubt, it was a sigh of relief for those who backed the veteran Riggs at +205. The opening bout of the evening saw a competitive striking battle between TUF Brazil 4 teammates Joaquim Silva and Nazareno Malegarie. After three rounds most onlookers expected a split decision, and that’s exactly what they got. Silva ended up getting his hand raised, and cashed the +110 tickets for bettors to get off to a quick start for the night.
