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Dana White: John Dodson ‘makes the most sense’ for Demetrious Johnson’s next fight

UFC President Dana White discusses Demetrious Johnson’s win over Ali Bagautinov, why a rematch with John Dodson makes the most sense next, Tyron Woodley’s loss to Rory MacDonald, Brendan Schaub’s strange fight with Andrei Arlovski, and much more wi…

UFC 174: How Main Card Results Will Affect Title Pictures

The great thing about the UFC is the pinnacle of the sport is still championship gold. Even those who love boxing as I do have to admit that the focus is not as much on championships as it should be.
The UFC 174 card—like all of the pr…

The great thing about the UFC is the pinnacle of the sport is still championship gold. Even those who love boxing as I do have to admit that the focus is not as much on championships as it should be.

The UFC 174 card—like all of the promotion’s events—worked to set the championship scene for several weight classes in order.

The winners and losers of the five fights on the main card have undoubtedly moved up in the rankings in their respective weight classes, or in one case, solidified their spot atop the hill.

OSP Is a Dangerous Man

Ovince Saint Preux’s wrestling was the difference on Saturday night against Ryan Jimmo. The two men fought to a bit of a stalemate in the stand-up, but once OSP took Jimmo to the ground, he broke him…literally.

A chicken wing and awkward position caused an injury to Jimmo’s arm and forced him to verbally submit in the second round.

You could hear him say “My arm is broken” while lying under an aggressive OSP.

Though he’s not close to challenging Jon Jones for the title, OSP should not be dismissed. He is a future contender.

Brendan Schaub Was Robbed

Per Rob Tatum of MMA Corner, Dana White thinks the fans were the ones who got the shaft in this bout:

The only thing worse than a boring fight is an unjust decision to a boring fight. That’s what we had on Saturday in Brendan Schaub vs. Andrei Arlovski.

The fight didn’t have a lot of action, but Schaub owned the parts of the bout that mattered. Still, Arlovski “earned” a split-decision victory over Schaub. Go figure.

Neither man looked good in this bout, so in actuality, there were no real winners. Arlovski has the big name, but he would get thrashed by the top heavyweights in the UFC if Saturday night’s performance is all he has to offer.

Ryan “Darth” Bader Put on a Clinic

Despite the fact that Rafael Cavalcante trains with Team Nogueira, his grappling looked rudimentary compared to Ryan Bader’s.

Darth dominated the fight from beginning to end with a physically imposing performance. He continues to beat guys who have no right calling themselves contenders. But when given an opportunity, he seems to lose to the best at 205 pounds.

It looks like he might get another opportunity to prove otherwise.

Rory MacDonald Makes a Statement

Coming into the night, Tyron Woodley was as scary a welterweight as there is in the UFC. MacDonald made him look like an inexperienced up-and-comer.

With timing and length, the Canadian picked Woodley apart. In the third and final round, he came close to convincing referee John McCarthy to stop the fight. Ultimately, MacDonald settled for a dominant unanimous-decision victory.

At the post-fight press conference, the winner made it clear that he wants a shot at the gold:

It’ll be hard for other contenders like Robbie Lawler and Matt Brown to make a better case than “Ares” for challenging Johny Hendricks for the 170-pound crown.

“Mighty Mouse” Makes His Case for Pound-for-Pound Crown

Forget the flyweight title. It’s time to consider whether Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson is the best mixed martial artist in the world.

On Saturday night he dominated Ali Bagautinov with a mixture of speed, defense and unpredictability.

All things considered, the champ couldn’t have performed any better.

At this point, the only challenger who makes any sense is John Dodson.

The two met before, and Johnson won a close unanimous decision. Dodson is perhaps the only other fighter capable of keeping up with Johnson’s speed.

If Johnson were to win that bout, it could be a long while before we see him lose.

Follow me. I dig combat sports.

@BMaziqueFPBR

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UFC 174: Fans Exit Early from Demetrious Johnson’s Dominant Title Fight

Demetrious Johnson was the faster fighter. He was the quicker fighter. He was the better fighter in his five-round shutout against Ali Bagautinov at UFC 174 on Saturday.
MMAFighting.com’s Shaun Al-Shatti tweeted this from Johnson’s post-fight interview…

Demetrious Johnson was the faster fighter. He was the quicker fighter. He was the better fighter in his five-round shutout against Ali Bagautinov at UFC 174 on Saturday.

MMAFighting.com’s Shaun Al-Shatti tweeted this from Johnson’s post-fight interview with Joe Rogan:

Flyweight king or not, Johnson’s dominant performance was apparently not enough to keep some of the 13,506 fans at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada from sticking around to watch the champ have his hand raised.

Sherdog.com’s Jordan Breen tweeted during the title fight:

Possibly stemming from the lack of fans in attendance or simply from the fact that the fight was so one-sided—though the fans who managed to stay seemingly weren’t excited either—MMAFighting.com tweeted:

“Mighty Mouse” wasn’t too bothered by it, though. Johnson first told reporters at the UFC 174 post-fight press conference: “I didn’t notice at all. I was too busy throwing knees in the clinch. It doesn’t bother me at all, you know. People are free to leave and go as they please. They’re not held here in contempt. I think all the educated fans loved it.”

This isn’t the first time Johnson’s dominating performances have gone unappreciated by casual fans. He’s often criticized for being dominant enough to completely dispatch his opponents but not dominant enough to finish his fights inside of the Octagon.

It’s not all his fault, though—he’s doing his part to put on a solid performance. The stats advertised during the fight only reinforced what people were observing: a one-sided beating by the reigning, defending, undisputed, cursed flyweight champion of the world. By the end of the third round, he had reportedly landed more than 150 strikes. Bagautinov could only hover around 60.

MMAFighting.com’s senior editor Luke Thomas summed up why Johnson’s dominant performances often go unappreciated in a series of tweets:

Hopefully, a rematch with the endlessly charismatic John Dodson will serve as a defibrillator to Johnson’s struggling popularity.

It’s worth noting that this was the first time Johnson had his name announced last at a UFC pay-per-view. His seemingly underwhelming but absolutely dominant performance—coupled with the fans who opted to get drenched in the rain instead of watch Dana White wrap the belt around his waist—could force White and company to question whether they can afford to headline another fight card with Johnson.

Kristian Ibarra is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report. He also serves as the sports editor at San Diego State University’s student-run newspaper, The Daily Aztec. Follow him on Twitter at @Kristian_Ibarra for all things MMA.

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UFC 174 post-fight show

VANCOUVER, B.C. — MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani and Sherdog’s Jordan Breen break down the top storylines coming out of UFc 174 on Saturday night.

VANCOUVER, B.C. — MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani and Sherdog’s Jordan Breen break down the top storylines coming out of UFc 174 on Saturday night.

Firas Zahabi thinks Rory MacDonald deserves title shot, GSP is coming back

VANCOUVER, B.C. — Firas Zahabi discusses Rory MacDonald’s win over Tyron Woodley at UFC 174, if that was MacDonald’s best performance of his career, what it’s like coaching MacDonald, if GSP will come back after all after his knee injury, and much more.

Ali Bagautinov explains what went wrong against Demetrious Johnson

VANCOUVER, B.C. — Ali Bagautinov, who lost via unanimous decision to Demetrious Johnson in the UFC 174 main event Saturday night, discusses why he came up short, what he learned, and much more.

VANCOUVER, B.C. — Ali Bagautinov, who lost via unanimous decision to Demetrious Johnson in the UFC 174 main event Saturday night, discusses why he came up short, what he learned, and much more.