The UFC made it official during the telecast for UFC Fight Night 71, announcing UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson vs. John Dodson 2 as the main event of UFC 191. The card takes place September 5 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, and airs live on pay-per-view. Also announced was a light heavyweight bout between Anthony Johnson and Jan Blachowicz, which will likely serve as the co-main event, although that wasn’t confirmed on the telecast. The fight between Johnson and Dodson should be a good one. The pair first met two years ago, with Johnson earning a decision victory over Dodson in what was his first title defence. He’s since reeled off a number of victories over high-level competition, while Dodson has won a few fights in a row to earn a rematch. This is a solid fight and Dodson of course has a puncher’s chance, but I really like Johnson here. I just don’t see anyone beating him at 125lbs, not even Dodson, who did relatively well in the first fight. Having said that, Dodson does deserve some respect in the line, so I expect it to be around -400 to -500, but still, I don’t see him winning and figure Johnson to be a key parlay leg for this event. The other fighter who should be a parlay key is Rumble Johnson, who takes on Blachowicz in what appears to be a massive mismatch. Blachowicz is a decent fighter for sure, but Johnson is a championship-caliber mixed martial artist and I just can’t see him losing this fight unless he gets injured or if Blachowicz lands a lucky punch. This appears to be a giant mismatch and I fully expect Rumble to knock Blachowicz out in the first round in brutal fashion. As for a line, I expect Johnson to be a massive favorite. In my mind, he should be around 10-to-1 for this fight, although I could see him opening a bit lower. Having said that, I fully expect bettors to load up on him and when it’s all said and done I expect him to close as a massive, massive favorite come fight time. These two fights are fun, but to me they don’t really scream that this is going to be a big-drawing PPV. Considering the Johnson vs. Chris Cariaso and Johnson vs. Kyoji Horiguchi fights did horrible on PPV, I’m not expecting this one to break 200k buys, because with only a little time until the event it just doesn’t seem like any other big names are going to be added to the card. Still, it should be a fun one for the hardcores.
