Demetrious Johnson has quickly and efficiently moved his way up the bantamweight ladder and will finally get his shot at Dominick Cruz and bantamweight glory on Saturday night.
“Mighty Mouse” Johnson is coming off of a huge win over former bantamweight kingpin Miguel Torres and is now set to face an even tougher fighter in Cruz.
It is a big “if” that Johnson beats Cruz. As of right now Johnson is going at +335 in the betting department—a huge underdog to Cruz.
But what if Johnson were able to grasp victory from Cruz and take the belt back home?
Johnson’s win would turn the division upside down, and depending on the outcome of the fight, he would most likely get the winner of the Brian Bowles versus Urijah Faber fight. Then you bring into the equation Joseph Benavidez, who is the No. 2 bantamweight on a lot of rankings.
Cruz has already beaten most of the competition in the division and has almost cleared it out. If Johnson wins, everybody starts off new, making this division more interesting.
Johnson has the tools to win against Cruz. Good grappling mixed with his high-paced fighting style is a good mesh to even out Cruz’s wrestling and high-paced fighting style.
Johnson should have a better shot than what most people are giving him. Johnson hasn’t lost since his WEC debut against Brad Pickett. Since then Johnson has picked off Nick Pace, Damacio Page, Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto and most recently, Torres.
It isn’t like Johnson hasn’t been tested. If Johnson does pull this off, I think he could reign as champion for a while and re-beat the bantamweight division.
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