Ever wonder what Floyd Mayweather Jr. would be like without the bravado? The answer is: Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson.
On Saturday night in the main event at UFC 191, Johnson successfully defended his UFC flyweight championship in a rematch with No. 1 contender John Dodson. Johnson nullified Dodson’s offense and wore him down for five masterfully fought rounds. MMA Fighting was equally complimentary of Johnson’s performance:
Their first fight was close, but Johnson left no doubt on Saturday as he nearly pitched a shutout on the card. The judges scored the fight 50-45, 49-46, 49-46.
The UFC congratulated their champion immediately after the fight:
Like Mayweather’s in-ring performances, only purists of the sport can appreciate the work Johnson does in the Octagon. Mayweather’s personality helps to bring in the casual fan while Johnson’s more conservative and likable demeanor frankly makes him less compelling to the masses.
When Saturday night’s fight was over, Dodson probably wished he had a chance to fight Mayweather, someone in the crowd, or anyone besides Johnson. With footwork that was like a video tutorial for navigation in the Octagon, Johnson put himself in position to tee off on Dodson with a sneaky right-hand lead that scored all night.
Dodson did a great job defending the takedown most of the fight, but Johnson’s multi-faceted approach kept the challenger on his heels throughout. Johnson landed four of his 16 takedown attempts, but he out landed Dodson 94-70 in significant strikes. The win was Johnson’s ninth-straight victory and it should solidify him as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport.
MMA Infographics shows Johnson has drawn even with UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo for most consecutive title defenses in UFC history:
In leading up to the fight, Dodson had taken several verbal jabs at Johnson. The insults appeared to get under the skin of the straight-hooting champion. He definitely took out his frustrations on the left side of Dodson’s face.
The champion couldn’t resist feeding Dodson some of his words, and using some of his own colorful language to toot his own horn:
I can’t say the rest of the card was filled with the high-level MMA we saw in the main event, but it was certainly interesting. Here’s a look at the results of each fight and Twitter reaction.
| Fight Pass Prelims | ||
| Matchup | Weight Class | Result |
| Joaquim Silva vs. Nazareno Malegarie | Lightweight | Silva by split decision (30-27, 30-27, 28-29) |
| Joe Riggs vs. Ron Stallings | Middleweight | Riggs by DQ (Illegal upkick) |
| Fox Sports 1 Prelims | ||
| Matchup | Weight Class | Result |
| Clay Collard vs. Tiago Trator | Featherweight | Trator by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) |
| No. 13 Jessica Andrade vs. Raquel Pennington | Women’s Bantamweight | Pennington by submission (rear-naked choke, third round) |
| No. 12 Francisco Rivera vs. No. 8 John Lineker | Bantamweight | Lineker by submission (guillotine, first round) |
| Ross Pearson vs. Paul Felder | Lightweight | Pearson by split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29) |
| Main Card on PPV | ||
| Matchup | Weight Class | Result |
| No. 7 Paige VanZant vs. Alex Chambers | Women’s Strawweight | VanZant by submission (arm bar, third round) |
| No. 12 Jan Blachowicz vs. Corey Anderson | Light Heavyweight | Anderson by unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 29-26) |
| No. 1 Anthony Johnson vs. No. 7 Jimi Manuwa | Light Heavyweight | Johnson by KO (second round) |
| No. 4 Andrei Arlovski vs. No. 10 Frank Mir | Heavyweight | Arlovski by unanimous decision (30-27. 30-27, 29-28) |
| (c) Demetrious Johnson vs. No. 1 John Dodson | UFC Flyweight Championship | Johnson by unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 49-46) |
| Results per PPV broadcast |
Fighting Words
Warning: The War is Coming
MMAFighting.com and others knew a truly violent display was on tap as John Lineker and Francisco Rivera marched toward the Octagon. Midway through the first round, these two guys had abandoned their technique and simply started firing bombs.
When the smoke cleared, Lineker had the stiffest chin and hardest punches. He dropped Rivera once and finished him moments later with a guillotine. Rivera got in some solid shots, but Lineker proved his chin was up to the task. Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter had high praise for the bout:
Lineker’s endurance was all the more impressive because it was his first fight at 135 pounds. The bantamweight division has a new player.
Go Rocky, It’s Your Birthday
On her 27th birthday, Raquel Pennington scored a thrilling third-round submission in the waning seconds of the final round against Jessica Andrade. UFC’s Dave Sholler gave Pennington the birthday congratulations.
To make the win all the more impressive, it was revenge for a tough split-decision loss she suffered to Andrade in March 2014. Per the Fox Sports 1 broadcast, Pennington is on a revenge tour as she looks to avenge all of the losses she’s experienced in the UFC.
Fox Sports’ Damon Martin doesn’t sound sure that Pennington can accomplish that goal, but gives her credit for her work ethic and fighting spirit:
The Building of a Star
Operation: Make Paige VanZant a Star is in full effect. The dynamic, spirited and attractive women’s strawweight fighter is getting every opportunity to become a household name in the MMA community. That’s not to say she totally undeserving of the attention.
By all accounts, VanZant works very hard. That said, many could argue that she hasn’t accomplished enough to be on the main card over the Pennington-Andrade bout, or Paul Felder vs. Ross Pearson.
That said, her aggression and fighting spirit are unquestionably entertaining. Per MMA Fighting, VanZant talked about reverting to her brawling style:
Shaheen Al-Shatti of MMA Fighting sees the potential in VanZant:
Rumble Young Man, Rumble
No one should have been surprised to see Anthony “Rumble” Johnson knock out Jimi Manuwa. The latter doesn’t possess the submission game to take advantage of Johnson’s deficiencies on the ground.
Still, no matter how many times you see Johnson flatten guys, it’s still impressive. Martin believes there’s no one in the sport who hits harder:
Per Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting, Johnson paid respect to his supporters and spit ether at his haters:
Johnson rebounded well from his lopsided loss to Daniel Cormier in his last fight. Rumble isn’t ready for a another shot at the championship just yet, but he’s on the right track after blowing through Manuwa.
Frank Mir vs. Andrei Arlovski Didn’t Live Up to Expectations
Sorry, I didn’t have a catchy sub-headline for this one. The fight was just too boring to deserve an overly creative description. Botter shared my sentiments, but he did offer a funny analogy:
Mir wasn’t in the same shape we’re accustomed to seeing and Arlovski gave the two-time heavyweight champion so much respect, he couldn’t—or wasn’t willing—to take any chances.
Arlovski got the slightly controversial unanimous-decision victory, but in the end there were no real winners.
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