UFC Flyweight Tilte Bout: Demetrious Johnson vs. John Moraga
Odds: (- 500 Johnson / +350 Moraga )
Betting Pick: Johnson
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In the main event of UFC on FOX 8, Flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson will put his title on the line against dangerous grappler John Moraga. Johnson has firmly cemented himself atop the 125 pound ranks, but Moraga enters this fight with only one loss as a professional and riding a seven-fight win streak. Moraga isn’t as well-known as some of Johnson’s other recent challengers, but he is a dangerous contender who is capable of matching Johnson strength-for-strength, which makes this an interesting style matchup.
John Moraga, a long-time veteran of Rage in the Cage, has looked like a monster since making his UFC debut. In his first fight he destroyed Ulysses Gomez with elbows and hard punches, and then pulled off a third-round guillotine choke over tough competitor Chris Cariaso in his second Octagon appearance. What’s interesting is that Cariaso is, by far, the toughest opponent Moraga has ever faced, and Johnson is in a whole different class from Cariaso. Moraga has handled every step up in competition admirably, but this is less a step than a gigantic leap. What Moraga has going for him in that his strengths are very similar to Johnson’s, which means he is unlikely to get completely overwhelmed. Still, this is the toughest challenge of Moraga’s career, and if he wants to leave a champion he is going to need to turn in a career performance.
Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson was the last man standing after UFC’s stacked tournament to crown the company’s first-ever Flyweight champion. In his last fight, he manhandled highly-regarded Flyweight John Dodson, who is incidentally the only fighter ever to hand Moraga a loss. Johnson is a very slick fighter who doesn’t overwhelm his opponents so much as he whittles them down, using superior speed, technique, footwork, and cardio to make sure that he is never in a disadvantageous position. Johnson’s best work comes on the ground, but he isn’t going to be able to fight recklessly considering Moraga’s submission prowess.
These are two fighters with similar styles, but Johnson has more experience against better competition and spent a large portion of his career fighting substantially larger opponents. To put it frankly, Moraga strikes me as a sort of knock-off version of Johnson. They have similar strengths and similar styles, but Johnson is better, more experienced, quicker, and more effective in almost every way. I don’t think he will annihilate Moraga, but he should be able to control all five rounds en route to a unanimous decision victory.
Prediction: Mighty Mouse by Unanimous Decision.
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