Joseph Benavidez has already lost to Demetrious Johnson twice. As long as Mighty Mouse is the champion, Benavidez at the back of the line for a title shot, or so the story goes. Regardless of who comes out victorious at UFC 183 between Ian McCall and John Lineker, though, Benavidez should be the next challenger for the UFC flyweight title.
Right now, the UFC is in an odd position with its lightest men’s division. It has an extremely dominant champion who has thus far reigned supreme over all who weigh the same as him. Johnson has risen to the No. 3 spot in the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings with his unbeaten reign as flyweight champion.
Johnson has beaten six fighters currently in the Top 10 over the last two years and has looked dominant throughout. He put the stamp on Benavidez in their rematch at UFC on Fox 9 last year with a first-round KO.
The flyweight division is as filled with talent heading into 2015 as it has ever been. The problem isn’t a lack of aggregate skill amongst the top fighters; it’s the fact that Johnson is so far ahead of the pack.
If Mighty Mouse emerged from a Jones vs. Gustafsson or a Melendez vs. Sanchez type of fight, he’d immediately gain some traction with disinterested fans. The level of competition at flyweight will inevitably catch up to Johnson, but in the meantime, we are left dissecting the resumes of fighters who have already lost to Johnson.
At UFC 183, we are finally going to see the showdown between McCall and Lineker. The fight was originally set for last month in Brazil, but McCall got sick after the weigh-ins with a blood infection, and the fight was called off.
Lineker didn’t make the weight on his first attempt for that fight and has missed weight three times in the past. It’s safe to say it isn’t a certainty that he’d make 125 pounds on the dot for a title fight should he defeat McCall on January 31.
A win over Lineker would be great for McCall, who started off his UFC run by going 0-2-1 in his first three fights. It would be the third win in a row for Uncle Creepy and would likely position him for a title shot against Demetrious Johnson.
But if you look at the resumes of Johnson, McCall, Benavidez, and Lineker since the beginning of 2013, which was almost two full years ago, Benavidez stands out as being the most deserving of the next title shot.
The problem with Benavidez is that when he’s not fighting for a championship, he’s wreaking havoc on the rest of the division.
Even though Benavidez is 0-2 against Mighty Mouse, he’s gone 5-1 against everyone else since the beginning of 2013. He put a beating on Dustin Ortiz at Fight Night in Austin last month and prior to that had one of the most impressive submissions of the year at UFC 172 when he got Tim Elliot stuck in a mounted guillotine with both arms trapped, forcing Elliot to submit by stomping his feet.
Lineker has gone 4-1 over the past two years, but his aforementioned issues with cutting weight precede him. His last fight with Alptekin Ozkilic was a thriller, but beating McCall shouldn’t be enough when Benavidez is fighting more often, against tougher competition and not having a single issue making the flyweight limit.
Johnson has gone 5-0 since the beginning of 2013, meaning that Benavidez has fought even more than the champion over the same time period.
There is also the merits put forth by the man who is quietly holding down the No. 1 spot on UFC.com’s flyweight rankings, John “The Magician” Dodson. He’s looking to return to action after surgery to repair a torn ACL. He’s said he’d fight for either the flyweight or bantamweight title recently.
Even though the injury and layoff were unfortunate, and Dodson has been dominant enough to maintain his top spot in the division despite his inactivity, he simply hasn’t been fighting. He needs at least one more fight before he gets another shot at the title.
If a win over Lineker would justify a third crack at Johnson for McCall, shouldn’t the recent performances by Benavidez warrant a third shot for him? A fighter should get as many title shots as he or she searns, regardless of how many times he or she has lost. Despite two losses to the champion, Joseph Benavidez has emphatically earned another title shot, and Johnson vs. Benavidez III would be the biggest fight the division has seen yet.
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