The little men never seem to get their dues in the UFC. In particular, Demetrious Johnson does not get credit for being either the first or second (depending on how you feel about Jose Aldo) best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
Throughout the five rounds that ‘Mighty Mouse’ spent thoroughly dominating a game challenger in John Dodson you could hear the distinct sound of the boo-boys voicing their displeasure.
Johnson may not have the most exciting style, he may not talk the most, and there may not be many flash knockouts but his technical ability and excellence across all disciplines are second to none.
Johnson recorded a unanimous decision win (49-46, 49-46, 50-45) in the main event of UFC 191 over a man who twice knocked him down in the second round of their last contest, also a decision win for Johnson (in his first title defence).
The win puts Johnson into tied fourth in the UFC all-time record for title defences. Looking through the current contenders in the flyweight division it certainly appears that Anderson Silva’s record of 10 title defences is in jeopardy.
He’s beaten most of the established top tenners, and only potential and question marks remain.
Does anyone really think Henry Cejudo or Jussier Formiga are going to cause problems for the champ? Usually when a fighter cleans out his division, there is pressure from fans and the UFC to change weight classes and put together a “superfight”.
Although there have been murmurings of Johnson moving up to face TJ Dillishaw it doesn’t appear that’s on the cards anytime soon. So, for now we’ll have to make do with Johnson beating up on flyweights.
Leading up to the card, the fight that was most intriguing was the matchup between resurgent heavyweights Andrei Arlovski and Frank Mir.
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This matchup has been in the making for the best part of a decade, and truth be told maybe we should have left it there.
The heavyweights, gassing early and sluggishly going after each other, were reminiscent of the recent title fight between Fabricio Werdum and Cain Velasquez, except this fight was not taking place 7,350 feet above sea level.
Although Arlovski in particular has looked tremendous in knocking out top contenders Travis Browne and Antonio Silva in recent fights, his win over Frank Mir was not quite so emphatic.
Because of the lack of action, it was challenging to score and it’s one of those fights that had no clear winners. In the end, the judges awarded the win to Arlovski, but this did nothing to further the bel-ief that he deserves a crack at the champ.
Luckily, the timing of this works out as Dana White has announced the title rematch between Werdum and Velasquez won’t take place until March.
It’s been a busy week for Light Heavyweight contender Anthony Johnson.
First, he went on a disgusting Facebook rant, which gave us a little more insight into why there have been so many recent domestic violence allegations against him.
Johnson essentially went on an angry tirade insulting and threatening a woman because she stretched near where he was lifting weights. Unsurpisingly he promptly deleted the post and apologised.
Later in the week a Reddit thread that accused him of dog abuse. Fortunately for Johnson, none of this seemed to affect his performance in the cage as he scored a violent second round knockout over Jimi Manuwa, who was thoroughly outclassed, and puts him in line for a top contender’s fight.
Paige VanZant kicked things off for the main card and if you’re looking for the next woman to potentially give off a “Rousey effect” look no further.
VanZant has the natural charisma, good looks and fighting ability to cause a stir in MMA.
In fact her finish of Alex Chambers was positively Rousey-esque as she transitioned into an armbar to win the fight in the third round.
