John “The Magician” Dodson will get his second shot at dethroning UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson on Saturday night at UFC 191 in Las Vegas.
The fight headlines a card that also features an important light heavyweight scrap between Anthony “Rumble” Johnson and Jimi “Poster Boy” Manuwa and a suddenly relevant throwback heavyweight scrap between Andrei “The Pit Bull” Arlovski and Frank Mir.
Here’s a look at the complete card with predictions and viewing information.
Looking to Make the Mouse Disappear
Dodson came the closest to beating Johnson of any of the champion’s previous foes at flyweight when the two met in January 2013. Since then, Dodson has battled injuries and fought just three times—though he’s won them all.
Things have gone even better for Johnson. He’s successfully defended his title five times since beating Dodson by unanimous decision, and he’s become arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC. Johnson has had some memorable fights since, but people are still talking about the classic fight with Dodson.
The Magician was able to stun Johnson and land significant strikes early in the fight. That’s something no other fighter has been able to do to the champion at flyweight. Johnson ultimately won based on his wrestling and technical acumen, but it was a struggle. Here’s how Sherdog.com’s Mike Sloan described Johnson and Dodson’s first fight:
Dodson didn’t make too many mistakes in his initial battle with Johnson because the fight wound up being one of the most competitive, most exciting fights the sport of MMA had witnessed in years. It was a perfect storm of two of the best fighters in their division, in their physical primes, fighting tooth and nail for something only one man can have.
What’s in store for the fighters and the fans this time around? Much of the same as it pertains to action. Johnson and Dodson are two of the sport’s most amazing athletes. The fight will again be fought at a breakneck pace. The difference in this bout will be Johnson’s approach.
The champion will look to take the fight to the ground quicker. He’s still the much better wrestler of the two, and he’s gotten even better than he was when the two men initially fought. Johnson will win again, but this time he’ll finish Dodson with a late-round submission that solidifies him as the sport’s best fighter.
Rumble Will Rip the Poster
You should never attempt to strike with Rumble Johnson. He’s too explosive and powerful. Unfortunately, Manuwa seems intent upon standing and fighting on Saturday night.
Per Elias Cepeda of FoxSports.com, Manuwa said: “No one is going to bully me in the cage. I will not be bullied. I will not step back—it is not who I am. We are going to be two trains meeting in the middle of the cage. Let’s see who gets pushed back. I’m not the one who is going to take a step backwards.”
It’s going to be a short fight.
Before Daniel Cormier reminded us that Johnson can still be taken down and submitted by skilled wrestlers, Rumble had won nine straight fights. Six of those wins came via knockout. Johnson has five losses in his career. Four of them have come by rear-naked choke. The proper approach to beating him seems obvious.
Manuwa has just one loss in his career, and that came via TKO to Alexander Gustafsson in March 2014. But Manuwa doesn’t appear to have the wrestling skills or the will to take advantage of Johnson’s weaknesses. He will attempt to stand and defeat Johnson, but he’ll be annihilated in the first round.
The Dog Trainer
Arlovski has found a second life in the UFC by scoring controversial and thrilling victories since returning to the promotion. Arlovski was given a gift split-decision victory over Brendan Schaub in June 2014. He followed that win up with two exciting KO victories over Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Travis Browne.
Mir has gone through a similar resurgence, as he appeared to be on his last leg in the UFC before scoring back-to-back KO wins over Silva and Todd Duffee. He had lost four fights in a row before his current two-fight winning streak.
Look for Mir to continue his rebirth. Arlovski is a brawler who is at his best when the fight is being contested at a manic pace. Mir has shown he can win that type of fight, but the submissions specialist is even better if he can get the fight to the ground.
Mir will work to keep this fight at the pace he needs. He’ll take Arlovski down somewhere in the second round and submit him with an arm hold to grab his third straight victory.
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