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UFC 191: Latest Johnson vs. Dodson 2 Fight Card Predictions, Projected Winners

Demetrious Johnson is already one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. If he can beat John Dodson in their rematch at UFC 191, Johnson may make a strong case to be the pound-for-pound champion.Johnson and Dodson headline what should be a …

Demetrious Johnson is already one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. If he can beat John Dodson in their rematch at UFC 191, Johnson may make a strong case to be the pound-for-pound champion.

Johnson and Dodson headline what should be a solid card Saturday night. UFC 190 seemed to suffer from the sheer volume of fights, a problem that shouldn’t be the case with UFC 191, with 11 fights through the UFC Fight Pass preliminaries through the main card.

Below, you can read brief previews and predictions for each of the five main card fights.

UFC 191 Card

Main Card Predictions

Paige VanZant vs. Alex Chambers

This isn’t so much a fight as it is a vehicle to make Paige VanZant a bigger UFC star. Alex Chambers’ two fights in the company include a defeat to Aisling Daly at the Ultimate Fighter 20 finale and an unconvincing submission victory over Kailin Curran at UFC Fight Night 65.

VanZant should have little trouble putting Chambers away on Saturday, and that’s kind of the point. UFC is essentially building VanZant up to be the Ronda Rousey of the women’s strawweight division, a point VanZant briefly discussed on America’s Pregame:

The 21-year-old will come fast and furious at Chambers, and if her win over Curran is any evidence, that should concern Chambers after she took a ton of punishment before pulling out that armbar out of nowhere.

Maybe Chambers can pull off a similar shock, but this should be an easy win for VanZant.

Prediction: VanZant wins, Round 2 TKO

Jan Blachowicz vs. Corey Anderson

This fight will be a nice measure of Corey Anderson’s progression in the Octagon. The 25-year-old looks like a talented, promising fighter, but he’s coming off a TKO defeat to Gian Villante at UFC on Fox 18.

Jan Blachowicz is the favorite, which makes sense. He’s the far more experienced of the two and looks to be the superior overall fighter as well, at least by what we’ve seen from Anderson so far.

With that said, Anderson should be able to pull off the upset. He’s a patient fighter who will wait for his opportunities to get an advantage on Blachowicz. If he can work the clinch and get Blachowicz down on the mat, Anderson should do enough to convince the judges.

Prediction: Anderson wins, split decision

Anthony Johnson vs. Jimi Manuwa

No matter what happens, this fight should be a ton of fun. Three of Anthony Johnson’s last four wins have come by knockout or TKO, while 13 of Jimi Manuwa‘s 15 career mixed martial arts victories were over in knockout fashion as well.

“He’s a beast,” Johnson said of his opponent, per Michael Martinez for UFC.com. “He has great power and good stand-up. He’s not afraid to stand there and bang. To me, that’s what makes this fight so entertaining, because everybody knows I’m going to try and knock your head off and he’s trying to do the same thing. We’re just guns blazing.”

Because of his punch power, you can’t completely dismiss Manuwa‘s chances. All it takes is a split-second for Johnson to let his guard down and get caught with a heavy blow that sends him to the mat.

Still, Johnson is the more complete fighter, and his wrestling ability could be the difference in the outcome.

Prediction: Johnson wins, unanimous decision

Andrei Arlovski vs. Frank Mir

Who doesn’t love watching two grizzled veterans throw caution to the wind, especially with a potential title shot up for grabs?

Both Andrei Arlovski and Frank Mir have everything to gain Saturday night. They sit fourth and 10th, respectively, in the heavyweight rankings. They’re also each 36 years old, so the loser of this fight may never be this close to title contention again for the rest of his career.

While Mir is coming off back-to-back KO victories in his last two fights, he still relies more heavily on his submission game. Not to mention he continues to struggle when needing to go into defense mode.

That could spell trouble against a fighter like Arlovski. “The Pit Bull” is a very good striker and should end the fight in relatively short order.

Prediction: Arlovski wins, Round 2 TKO

Demetrious Johnson vs. John Dodson

In a three-round fight, John Dodson might have a chance to upset Demetrious Johnson. Over five rounds, Dodson will have a hard time hanging with Johnson from start to finish. The longer the fight goes, the better off Johnson will be.

Fighting Johnson is a lot like fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. You have a window of opportunity in the first round or two, and once you get past that threshold, you’re pretty much toast.

Dodson may own the advantage in Rounds 1 and 2, but Johnson’s methodical, deliberate style will pay off in the long run. As long as Johnson doesn’t completely fall on his face in the fifth round, he will be the judges’ choice.

Far more interesting about this fight is the future of the flyweight division in general. Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden foresees a time when UFC does away with flyweights—at least temporarily:

With Johnson at the helm, the 125-pound division has failed to make it out of the blocks to the point a source at UFC says there have been whispers at headquarters about simply shutting the flyweight class down and sending everybody in it back to the house. It wouldn’t be unprecedented. When the lightweight class led by B.J. Penn failed to take flight, Zuffa got rid of it for a time. The same thing absolutely could happen with flyweights.

Perhaps a thrilling fight between Johnson and Dodson could energize fans behind the division.

Prediction: Johnson wins, unanimous decision

Note: UFC 191 odds are courtesy of Odds Shark.

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UFC Fight Night 74 Results: Winners, Scorecards from Holloway vs. Oliveira Card

UFC Fight Night 74 ended in shocking fashion as Charles Oliveira was forced to wave the white flag against Max Holloway after suffering what appeared to be a neck injury.
A little over a minute-and-a-half into the first round, Holloway pressed Oliveira…

UFC Fight Night 74 ended in shocking fashion as Charles Oliveira was forced to wave the white flag against Max Holloway after suffering what appeared to be a neck injury.

A little over a minute-and-a-half into the first round, Holloway pressed Oliveira headfirst against the cage and seemed to yank back on Oliveira‘s left shoulder a bit. Oliveira got back up on his feet and quickly realized something was wrong. He held his left arm up to signal he was hurt.

Referee Herb Dean then stopped the fight and medical personnel immediately tended to Oliveira. According to MMAjunkie’s Matt Erickson, doctors placed Oliveira in a neck brace and stretchered him to the back.

Holloway was a bit conflicted in his emotions after the fight, per MMA Fighting:

The final moments of the main event certainly overshadow everything else that happened during Fight Night 74, which ran nearly six hours between the preliminary and main cards.

Below, you’ll find the full results from the entire night and brief recaps for the remaining bouts on the main card.

UFC Fight Night 74 Results

Main Card Recap

Valerie Letourneau def. Maryna Moroz

Maryna Moroz suffered the first loss of her professional career after she fell to Valerie Letourneau. The bout went the full distance, with Letourneau coming out on top on all three of the judges’ scorecards.

She owned the edge in just about every statistical category, landing more overall strikes (106) than Moroz (79) and connecting on 69 significant strikes, compared to 55 for her opponent. Letourneau also scored a takedown in the third round.

The third and final round was what likely secured the win for Letourneau. She and Moroz had been neck-and-neck through the first two rounds. Then, the 32-year-old Montreal native got Moroz down on the mat and unloaded on her with punches.

Although Moroz eventually worked her way back to her feet, the damage was already done.

Now having won her third fight in a row since joining UFC, Letourneau is putting herself in line for a title shot fairly soon down the road.

Olivier Aubin-Mercier def. Tony Sims

Olivier Aubin-Mercier eschewed aesthetics as he ran his competitive record to 7-1 in a winning effort over Tony Sims.

Aubin-Mercier had control for 11 minutes and 48 seconds of the fight, compared to 1:28 for Sims. Sims owned a distinct advantage in significant strikes (23 to 3), but Aubin-Mercier countered with six takedowns to Sims’ zero. Nobody really expected anything less from a fighter who has built his reputation as more of a grappler.

OAM can also take heart from the fact he set a new UFC record, per Michael Carroll:

While he may have picked up the victory, some will likely have expected more from Aubin-Mercier. Sims is a slight level below him in terms of talent, and he was unable to end the fight before the final bell. MMA Fighting’s Luke Thomas also remains skeptical as to the ceiling for the “Quebec Kid”:

Still, a win is a win, and Aubin-Mercier continues moving up the pecking order in the UFC lightweight division.

Francisco Trinaldo def. Chad Laprise

In what was the first fight not to get out of the first round on the main card, Francisco Trinaldo soundly defeated Chad Laprise via technical knockout.

The finish came after Trinaldo countered with a vicious left hand that sent Laprise to the mat. Sensing his opportunity, Trinaldo went in for the kill, and once he got wrapped around Laprise, he wasn’t letting go. Trinaldo rained punch after punch in on his opponent, leaving Dean no choice but to end the fight.

Those who bet on the Brazilian had a pretty good night, per MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani:

Trinaldo turns 37 on Monday, so his family back home will be left to celebrate without him. But fear not, for he has that covered, per Bleacher Report MMA:

If you want to be critical toward Trinaldo, the result didn’t exactly dispel the notion he lacks a lot of punching power. The referee called for the bells more for the volume of Trinaldo‘s blows rather than the individual impact of them.

Patrick Cote def. Josh Burkman

Josh Burkman enjoyed some brief spells where he looked to be getting the better of Patrick Cote, but Cote ultimately landed a massive right hand in the third round that served as a prelude to Burkman‘s demise.

Once Burkman hit the mat, Cote followed up with hammerfist after hammerfirst before the referee intervened to stop the fight. It’s the first time Burkman has ever lost via TKO.

This was easily the most entertaining of the main card fights, as Burkman and Cote exchanged plenty of offense. If not for the stoppage, the judges would’ve had a hard time determining a winner.

Roy Nelson offered a hearty endorsement of both fighters:

Following the victory, Cote wasted little time looking ahead to the future.

“Hector Lombard, when you come back in January, I’ll be there for you, man,” he said in his post-fight interview, per Fox Sports’ Elias Cepeda.

It might be a case of Cote’s mouth writing him checks his body can’t cash. Lombard is the better fighter, and if the two were to meet in the Octagon, Cote would probably find that out the hard way.

Neil Magny def. Erick Silva

The judges may have been split as to who was the better fighter between Neil Magny and Erick Silva, but it sure looked as though Magny owned a decided edge by the time the final bell rang.

Not only did the 28-year-old own a plus-39 edge in significant strikes, he also landed one more takedown than Silva over the course of the bout.

Magny looked in control for the most part, which belied the fact he had little preparation time after replacing Rick Story on the card. In addition, this was his second fight in August after he lost to Demian Maia at UFC 190.

As Bleacher Report MMA noted, Magny is quickly earning a reputation as the hardest working man in UFC:

Maybe now that he’s back in the win column again, he can take a well-earned break for a bit.

Note: Fight stats are courtesy of UFC.com.

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Kinberly Novaes Won MMA Title While 12 Weeks Pregnant: Latest Comments, Reaction

Kinberly Novaes found out the hard way cutting weight can be difficult when you’re carrying a child. During a physical examination to determine why she was unable to lose the requisite pounds in order to face Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger, the 24-year-old dis…

That timeline means Novaes was roughly 12 weeks pregnant when she defeated Renata Baldan via unanimous decision on May 17.

“We did a morphology ultrasound last week and the doctor said I’m 24 weeks pregnant, almost six months, and my baby is healthy and strong,” Novaes said, per MMAFighting.com’s Guilherme Cruz. “I was worried because I trained hard, fought, cut weight. I suffered a lot to make weight for my last fight, couldn’t dehydrate properly, and I was already training to fight again next week, but the doctor said everything is fine.“

One of the biggest questions is how Novaes’ pregnancy went unnoticed during the standard pre-fight medical exams. According to Combate’s Adriano Albuquerque, it was an oversight by Noxii, which promoted the bout:

“I didn’t ask for the exam. That’s the truth,” said Noxii promoter Bruno Barros, per Cruz. “I didn’t even think about the possibility of a woman fighting while pregnant, going through a camp and dehydrating and everything.“

Novaes was originally supposed to fight Jones-Lybarger on Aug. 21, but that event was canceled upon the reveal of her pregnancy. She has not set an official date for her return.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor Fight Announced: Date, Location and Preview

UFC president Dana White has locked down a date and venue for the highly anticipated bout between Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor. According to Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole, Aldo vs. McGregor is scheduled for Dec. 12 during UFC 194 at the MGM Grand Garden Are…

White admitted AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, was a major threat to host the fight:

But White told Yahoo Sports that he wanted a bigger venue than the approximately 11,000-seat Mandalay Bay Events Center. He was in talks with Cowboys’ officials about putting the fight at AT&T Stadium and said that on Thursday, “if you would have asked me, I would have told you for sure we were going to Dallas Cowboys Stadium.”

Instead, officials representing MGM Resorts moved the necessary pieces around to enable the Garden Arena to house Aldo vs. McGregor.

Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter didn’t envision any other outcome:

Fans will simply be happy they now have a confirmed date for the UFC featherweight title clash. McGregor and Aldo were originally set to face off at UFC 189 until Aldo suffered an injury in training.

In a way, fighting Chad Mendes was a good thing for McGregor, since it allowed him one last stern test before he meets the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC.

Aldo vs. McGregor is bound to be one of the biggest fights of 2015. Both fighters are immensely talented and charismatic. Not to mention they seem to genuinely dislike each other, which was evident during the pre-fight press conferences:

Over the past few years, mixed martial arts fans have bemoaned how the UFC has hurt the product by putting together too many cards and building too few new stars. Fans will have little difficulty getting excited for an Aldo vs. McGregor main event.

UFC 194 will be a great way for the company to close out 2015 with a bang.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 190 Results: Winners with Most Impressive Fights on Rousey vs. Correia Card

If you stayed up to watch the entirety of UFC 190 from start to finish, you deserve a piece of the “Performance of the Night” bonus.
Sunday’s pay-per-view card achieved the toxic combination of being both agonizingly long and dreadfully dull for stretc…

If you stayed up to watch the entirety of UFC 190 from start to finish, you deserve a piece of the “Performance of the Night” bonus.

Sunday’s pay-per-view card achieved the toxic combination of being both agonizingly long and dreadfully dull for stretches. And the entire payoff was a 34-second victory for Ronda Rousey, which was pretty cool nonetheless.

UFC 190 won’t exactly go down in company history as the greatest event ever, but it still featured a few highlights throughout the night.

Here’s a look at the full results, followed by the three fighters who looked the strongest in winning efforts.

Most Impressive Performances

Antonio Silva

After getting knocked out by Andrei Arlovski and Frank Mir, Antonio Silva looked completely past it as a UFC fighter. You can blame it on the failed drug test if you want, but Silva’s simply getting older and wasn’t aggressive whatsoever in his last two bouts.

Against a powerful puncher like Soa Palelei, “Bigfoot” didn’t appear to stand a chance.

But then Silva went and knocked Palelei out in the second round. As MMAFighting tweeted, the most surprising aspect of the victory was how little Silva seemed fatigued at the end:

Palelei was the aggressor in the first round and the better of the two fighters. By the second, he was completely gassed. Maybe his plan was knocking Silva out in the first round, and he was completely screwed when that didn’t happen.

Take nothing away from Silva, who desperately needed this win.

“Bigfoot” won’t be competing for the heavyweight title anytime soon, but he’s at least earned himself another marquee fight in the future.

Ronda Rousey

You could argue nothing Rousey did against Bethe Correia should be considered impressive. The champion was the heavy favorite entering the fight and Correia‘s superior in every facet of the sport.

Can you call a No. 1 seed beating a No. 16 seed in the NCAA tournament impressive?

While that’s a valid line of questioning, Rousey‘s greatness transcends the discussion. No single person or team in sports today is as consistently dominant as Rousey. Floyd Mayweather may be the closest, and he doesn’t so much win fights as he fails to lose them.

Give me a 30-second Rousey fight over 36 minutes of Mayweather.

Just look at this stat from Fighting Spirit Magazine‘s Justin Henry:

Rousey has won her last four fights in less time than it takes to get through half of a standard UFC round. Talk about efficiency.

Someday, Rousey will stop being a force of nature in the Octagon. Maybe her passion for mixed martial arts will fade as she pursues other avenues. Maybe age will take its toll at some point. Maybe the rest of the world will catch up.

Until that happens, let’s not be so jaded so as to not enjoy Rousey in her prime.

Also, athletes should do more of this on a regular basis (via Sportsnet’s Mike Johnston):

Patrick Cummins

ESPN Radio’s Jorge Sedano had the best reaction to Patrick Cummins‘ knockout of Rafael Cavalcante:

“I got caught a couple of times,” Cummins said after the fight, per MMAjunkie’s Matt Erickson. “The first round, I got caught with some good and clean punches and that kind of dictated the pace of the fight. I decided, ‘OK, I’m going to wrestle him and use my ground game,’ and that went well.”

The rope-a-dope strategy served the 34-year-old well. He absorbed Cavalcante‘s heaviest blows, and by the third round, Cavalcante was running on empty. Cummins saw the opportunity and pounced, hitting his opponent with elbow after elbow.

It’s not like Cavalcante got lucky with one blow to turn Cummins‘ face into the proverbial crimson mask. He dished out a ton of punishment but still couldn’t put Cummins away. The fact Cummins had anything left to finish Cavalcante is a testament to his conditioning and toughness.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 190: Fight Card, PPV Start Time and Final Rousey vs. Correia Predictions

Over the past few years, Rio de Janeiro has become a favored destination for UFC, and on Saturday, the company will once again occupy the HSBC Arena.
UFC 190 will begin with the UFC Fight Pass preliminaries at 7 p.m. ET and work its way up to the main …

Over the past few years, Rio de Janeiro has become a favored destination for UFC, and on Saturday, the company will once again occupy the HSBC Arena.

UFC 190 will begin with the UFC Fight Pass preliminaries at 7 p.m. ET and work its way up to the main card, which is scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. ET.

From top to bottom, the pay-per-view card doesn’t offer a whole lot, but sometimes the more underwhelming shows on paper turn out to be pleasant surprises once they get underway.

Here’s a look at the full card for the PPV, followed by brief previews for three of the bigger fights at UFC 190.

UFC 190 Card

Forecasting Saturday’s Biggest Fights

Ronda Rousey vs. Bethe Correia

Ronda Rousey is basically John Cena at this point. “Cena wins LOL” has become a meme for WWE fans since it’s a near guarantee Cena will overcome the odds and win his biggest matches, especially when he’s paired with a wrestler who has a smaller profile.

Calling Rousey the favorite ahead of her UFC 190 bout would be a massive understatement. She is superior to Bethe Correia in in every single facet of MMA.

Like Cena is essentially forced to do in order to build drama, Rousey basically moved the goalposts during an interview on America’s Pregame. via Fox Sports’ Damon Martin, when discussing her definition of an underdog and how she fits under the designation:

In these individual fights I might be a heavy favorite; in the end goal I’m not a favorite at all. I’m a huge underdog. The end goal is I want to retire undefeated and be remembered as one of the most dominant athletes of all time. There’s these athletes that have come up and been really dominant for a period and seemed indestructible for a period, but that time came to an end and eventually they had to retire.

You can kind of see where Rousey is coming from with regard to the entirety of her mixed martial arts career and overall legacy. But there isn’t a bigger individual “overdog” in sports today.

The gulf in class between Rousey and Correia looks to be gargantuan, and it would be a surprise if their fight went beyond the second round.

Prediction: Rousey wins, first-round submission

Mauricio Rua vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Mauricio Rua and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira put on a classic when they fought in PRIDE. Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden joked that fight might serve as a great replacement for their upcoming bout on UFC 190:

Quite a bit has changed in the 10 years since they last met in a competitive match. “Shogun” is 33 years old and the loser in four of his last fights. Nogueira, meanwhile, is 39, having fought twice between UFC 140 in December 2011 and now.

In a way, you can envision this being the best fight on the card. Neither guy has anything to lose, and they’re both relatively at the same level talent-wise. Sometimes, it can be a lot of fun watching two older stars throw caution to the wind and simply go after each other.

You can make a strong case for either Rua or Nogueira to win. “Shogun” might have a little more left in the tank, and he also has much more to fight for Saturday following his string of defeats.

The two will fight to a near-stalemate, with Rua just edging out his opponents on the scorecards.

Prediction: Rua wins, decision

Antonio Silva vs. Soa Palelei

Desperate men can do desperate things.

Antonio Silva hasn’t won a fight since knocking out Alistair Overeem at UFC 156 in February 2013. He has lost three fights—none of which went past the first round—and drawn with Mark Hunt, which was immediately followed by Silva’s failed drug test.

The 35-year-old needs a win against Soa Palelei in the worst way, and that might force him to be much more aggressive in the Octagon than he was on his last few fights.

Even then, Silva still might not have enough to finish off Palelei, who’s 4-1 since coming back to UFC in August 2013.

The biggest factor in the bout will be whether Palelei can get Silva down on the mat. If he does, then he’ll go to town on the Brazilian with a flurry of punches. Few fighters are stronger than Palelei, so Silva won’t stand much of a chance if he gets clocked by one or two big blows.

Simply put, you can’t look past Palelei here. Since returning from suspension, Silva has been helpless in the Octagon. Maybe he gets lucky Saturday night, but he looks way past it.

Prediction: Palelei wins, second-round knockout

Note: UFC 190 odds are courtesy of Odds Shark and up to date as of 11:50 p.m. ET Friday.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com