In the lead-up to UFC 191, John Dodson vowed his rematch against Demetrious Johnson would look different than their first fight. That promise proved to be prophetic, but not in the way Dodson would’ve liked.
This time the UFC’s flyweight champion left little doubt about his standing atop the division, dominating Dodson with a master-class performance on Saturday night. Unlike their first fight, which saw Dodson drop Johnson with punches in each of the opening two rounds, Johnson came out strong and controlled the action from start to finish, ultimately capturing a lopsided unanimous decision that pushed his streak of consecutive title defenses to seven.
“I had more success in the first fight because both of us were going in there not knowing what each other’s strengths were,” Dodson (17-7) said at UFC 191’s post-fight press conference.
“This time we went in there more cautious. He was more intelligent this time. I was trying to defend more takedowns and he was just trying to push that pace, and DJ did a wonderful job about that. He came at me, and my hat is off to him. You can’t sit there and badmouth him because this man is still the champion and he did something that everyone saw him doing. I couldn’t stop him.”
Johnson (23-2-1) established a grueling pace early in the fight and maintained it throughout all 25 minutes, masterfully mixing up clinchwork, takedowns, and striking to wear down the hard-throwing Dodson.
According to FightMetric stats, Johnson outlanded Dodson by a margin of 163 strikes to 108, and completed four takedowns to Dodson’s one. Johnson was never in trouble, and much of his best work came from the clinch, where he repeatedly made Dodson carry his weight while battering his foe’s face with short punches and elbows.
“Both of us have evolved, and we’ve shown that,” Dodson said. “We’ve shown that he has more aggressive power coming at me, and he landed a lot more shots to my face. I look like a monster. I look like (Rafael) dos Anjos.
“But, hindsight, I can come back stronger. Since everybody keeps talking about this glass ceiling, I’m going to break through it. I’m going to make sure that I come back and come back stronger. If Dana (White) gives me the opportunity to go ahead and beat up a bunch of people that seem worthy to fight Demetrious, I will do it, and I will make sure I can make another title run at this again.”
Dodson now moves into the same void occupied by his division-mate Joseph Benavidez. The two flyweights are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in the weight class, but both have lost twice to Johnson, with each of their second meetings ending far more decisively than the first, making any prospects for a third shot a tough sell.
Dodson’s fight week was a hectic one, too. After landing in Las Vegas early in the week, the 30-year-old flew back home to Albuquerque to witness the birth of his daughter. The experience proved to be both tiring and invigorating as only the birth of one’s child can be, but Dodson wouldn’t fault his loss on any outside factors in the lead-up to the fight.
“I can’t blame anything that’s gone on this whole week, calling it a distraction or motivation,” Dodson said. “The only thing is that I came out here, I performed my best, and I did everything that I need to do. I’m excited that I got to see and hold my baby for the first time, and not only that, I got to celebrate my mom’s birthday yesterday. So it was awesome. I had a tremendous week.
“Even tonight was still an amazing night. It might have not gone my way, but it’s still exciting. I saw millions of fans out there still cheering me on, saying that I’m awesome, and everybody gave me daps. There is nothing wrong with what happened today besides Demetrious Johnson still being the champion. He’s still a great fighter. I didn’t win this fight, but next time I’m coming out a lot stronger and a lot harder. You guys will see me back again, with a better face looking sexier than ever.”