(Now there’s two guys you definitely wouldn’t want to trip over in a dark alley. / Photo via CombatLifestyle. For more photos from this set, click here.)
The UFC returns to FOX tonight, and the stakes are high: Can John Dodson become the fourth Ultimate Fighter winner to win a UFC championship? Will Rampage Jackson‘s final appearance in the UFC end in triumph or humiliation? Can Erik Koch regain his place as the #1 featherweight contender with a win over Ricardo Lamas, and will Anthony Pettis secure his own spot atop the lightweight contender ladder with a victory against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone?
But hey, enough damn questions — it’s time for some answers. CagePotato liveblogger Aaron Mandel will be providing round-by-round results from the UFC on FOX 6: Johnson vs. Dodson main card after the jump, beginning at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and share your own feelings in the comments section.
Good evening PotatoHeads, we’re a few minutes away from grappling robots which will signal the start of main card action on FOX. Congrats to Alex for his marathon, six fight live blog cherry popping with the prelims. We’ve got some great free fights tonight include a championship bout, a possible number one contender fight and some crowd pleasers. Stay tuned!
And the broadcast is off to a weird start with lots of technical difficulties and sound mishaps, fortunately there is a Bud Light commercial to cut to, this is the best sport on earth, people! Goldberg back to save us with functioning microphones and his best friend ever, Joe Rogan and the broadcast intro has begun.
Koch has a pretty intense fake tan that apparently he was sponsored to get, Lamas is the hometown fighter. Big John in charge of this one.
Erik Koch vs. Ricardo Lamas
Round 1- Fighters feelings each other out at the start in the center of the cage. Lamas tries a huge windmill kick that misses. Koch with a head kick of his own that is blocked. Punches and kicks from Koch are dodged and blocked by Lamas as they continue to feel each other out. Lamas shoots for a takedown and pins Koch to the cage. Koch sprawling and defending the takedown well. Lamas drags him down for a split second but Koch pops up and sprawls with his back against the cage again. Lamas continuing to hold Koch against the cage, jockeying for position. Koch continuing to defend in the clinch against the cage. They separate and return to striking distance. Lamas looking crafty with his kicks but they aren’t landing. Lamas lands a combo and clinches Koch against the cage again. Lamas gets a takedown but it doesn’t last more than five seconds, Koch is up and the round is over. I’d give it to Lamas on octagon control, not a lot of damage either way so far.
Round 2- Koch opens with a left. A few legs kicks from Lamas and now Koch puts Lamas against the cage. Lamas slips on a leg kick, Koch pounces but Lamas scrambles and ends up on top in guard. Lamas posturing and throwing down strikes. Lamas stacking Koch and dropping bombs, Koch bleeding badly as Lamas keeps pounding and Big John calls the fight.
Ricardo Lamas defeats Erik Koch via TKO, Round 2
Koch was cut terribly from only a few elbows and Lamas makes a case for himself at the top of the featherweight division. He thanks the hometown crowd and dedicates the win to his late grandparents.
Dana White gets on the mic with Rogan to hype Aldo vs. Edgar on PPV next week. A lightweight barn burner looms as Cowboy Cerrone and Showtime Pettis get ready to meet in the cage.
Donald Cerrone vs. Anthony Pettis
Round 1- Pettis lands first with a big right. They exchange in a flurry and Cerrone gets him back. Cerrone lands with a knee as Pettis tries a cartwheel kick. Pettis in with a right and out quickly and opening up with strikes, seeming a bit more comfortable striking early. Pettis with some body kicks and a “Showtime knee” that seem to hurt Cerrone. Pettis crushes Cerrone with a left kick to the body, Cerrone drops and it is over, brutal liver kick finish, somewhere Bas Rutten is smiling.
Anthony Pettis defeats Donald Cerrone via TKO (body kick), Round 1
Pettis gets the Milwaukee fans in attendance pumped and makes it clear he’s not afraid to fight anyone. It turns out it’s his birthday and he asks for a title shot and a KOTN bonus from Uncle Dana as a present.
Next up we’ve got the potential UFC swan song of former light heavyweight champion Rampage Jackson who is taking on rising contender Glover Teixeira. Can Rampage rediscover his old knockout power and slam-based grappling or is the hungrier Teixeira going to be too much for him? Will Rampage get his wish for a stand-up battle? We’ll have answers to these burning questions of our time in a few minutes.
Quinton Jackson vs. Glover Teixeira
Round 1- Damn, I’m pumped for this, don’t know why but I am! Teixeira misses with an uppercut. Rampage slugs back but it’s blocked. Rampage moving his head well. Glover shoots in and takes him down and has Rampage’s back with hooks in, yikes. Glover is going for the arm triangle and switches back to the back mount. Rampage is up and firing away! Rampage ducks a strike and answers with a left hook, a glancing blow though. Head kick from Glover doesn’t land flush. Rampage with a combo of power strikes that Glover blocks. Huge strikes from both fighters that just miss. Rampage moving his head well and swaying out of the way. Glover lands a hook and Rampage answers back, he is throwing the left hook. Glover lands another hook and Rampage runs across the cage, maybe hurt a little. Glover wobbles Rampage and stalks him toward the cage. Rampage gets dropped as Glover pounces but can’t finish. Rampage back up but on wobbly legs as the round ends. 10-9 for Teixeira.
Round 2- Rampage seems to have cleared the cobwebs as Glover shoots and takes Rampage down to start the round. Glover in half guard as Rampage tries to hit a switch and fails. Glover passes to side control and drops some big elbows. Rampage back to his feet. Rampage throws a few big uppercuts as Glover answers back with a hook. The fighters briefly clinch and then back to striking distance. Glover is having success with the left hook. Body shot from Rampage. Uppercuts from Glover as Rampage defends with head movement. Rampage seems to be tiring. Rampage shoots for a takedown (ha!) that fails. Glover working some kicks. Fighters exchange some taunts and swing at each other. Big body shots from Glover as he keeps clubbing Rampage. Another 10-9 round for Glover.
Round 3- Touch of the gloves to start the final round. Glover lands another left hook and Rampage back with a stiff jab. Rampage putting together some combos. Teixeira shoots for a takedown and has it, pushing Rampage against the cage and working to mount from half guard. Teixeira dropping elbows and searching for an arm triangle. Rampage uses the cage to get up and they exchange again. Rampage swinging wildly and falls into a clinch. Glover with another left hook that finds its mark. Two minutes to go and Glover seems fresher. Teixeira gets a takedown with ease but Rampage pops back up. Rampage looks gassed as he absorbs some body shots. Rampage has his mouth wide open gasping for air as he throws wild strikes. Another takedown for Teixeira as he mounts and rains down strikes as time expires. Teixeira should take this one easily.
Glover Teixeira defeats Quinton Jackson via unanimous decision
Interesting, no interview for Glover or Rampage, maybe the UFC was worried about what Rampage would say.
And now it’s time for some gravity defying things done by 125 pound men. Dodson’s walk in proves that he absolutely won’t be testing positive for ADD meds. Johnson is an athletic little guy too, it’s hard to say who will have the advantage here, I can’t imagine either one gassing or slowing down, even if it goes the full 25 minutes. Here we go!
Champ Demetrious Johnson vs. John Dodson
Round 1- Let’s see if my touch typing skills can keep up with all of this action. John McCarthy looks like he could eat either of these guys, he is the ref, by the way. Dodson with a body kick to start and a left straight. Johnson with a leg kick. Overhand right from Johnson. Kick from Johnson but Dodson meets him with a left and briefly drops Johnson. Head kick from Johnson is caught and Dodson slams him down. Johnson pops up and they return to striking. Johnson is missing with a lot of strikes, Dodson is damn fast. Body kick from Dodson and a big left to follow as Johnson rushed in. Johnson looks for a takedown and slams Dodson down to the mat. Dodson works back to the feet and they clinch on the cage with Dodson in control now. Fighters separate and re-clinch as the round ends. I have no idea who won that round, Johnson got a takedown but Dodson made him miss on the feet and briefly dropped Johnson. This is why I’m a liveblogger and not a judge.
Round 2- Dodson with some strikes to open the round. Johnson shoots for a takedown and they clinch on the cage. Johnson get Dodson down against the cage but Dodson works back up and they separate. Leg kick from Johnson and he’s controlling the center of the cage. Good jab from Johnson but Dodson comes back with a left that drops Johnson again, he pops right back up. Another left from Dodson floors Johnson but he gets up again, Johnson is hurt and shoots in but Dodson defends. Dodson’s power advantage is evident at this point but can he keep it up? Another shot knocks Johnson down but it may have been more of a slip. Dodson is winning the striking exchanges and Johnson seems a bit fuzzed still. Dodson catches a kick and cracks Johnson in the face. Johnson seems to be recovering as the round ends, 10-9 Dodson in this one.
Round 3- Jumping karate kick from Dodson looks cool but doesn’t land. Leg kicks from Johnson. Dodson catches Johnson with a left and Johnson keeps kicking away at his legs. Johnson shoots for a takedown and eats a knee as Dodson defends the takedown well. Dodson takes a big knee to the groin and Rogan gleefully asks to see a replay. Dodson is ready to go and they restart as Rogan rants about mother nature’s designing of the male body. Flying knee by Dodson goes OVER Johnson’s head. Straight left catches Johnson but he seems to be taking it well, obviously in excellent shape. Leg kicks from both fighters as haymakers from Dodson miss. Body kick from Dodson hurts Johnson. Johnson eats a punch but gets a takedown. Dodson with a loose butterfly guard and scoots to the wall to walk back to his feet. Johnson keeps his down and throws him back to the center of the cage. Johnson working some ground and pound to try to slow Dodson. They are back to the feet with Johnson throwing knees and punches and putting Dodson against the cage again. 10-9 Johnson in this round. It’s time for the championship rounds and Johnson seems the tiniest bit more fresh, we’ll see how the next rounds play out.
Round 4- Leg kicks from Dodson. Johnson has not slowed at all while Dodson is looking to hit a home run. Takedown by Johnson, but Dodson pops right back up. Johnson knees Dodson while he is down and Big John stops the fight, checks out Dodson and asks him to look at him with his bad eye that got kneed. ”Am I ugly?” McCarthy asks Dodson! No point deduction and they restart. Dodson is fired up and throwing with bad intentions but Johnson is relentless, shooting in again for a takedown and pushing the pace. They are against the cage with Johnson working for a takedown. Back to the center and Johnson pushes for another takedown. Dodson is playing cat and mouse with his hand up and down as Johnson chooses to knee the body instead. Johnson is like a robot kneeing Dodson over and over to the body and head from the clinch. Dodson is cut and Johnson is taking over. Big elbow from Johnson as they separate and Dodson seems to be wilting, Johnson is as fresh as he was at the start. 10-9 Johnson here but it might be two rounds each going into the fifth.
Round 5- This round could be the decider and they hug in the center of the cage to start. Johnson gets a clinch again and takes Dodson down this time. Johnson striking as Dodson works back to the feet. Johnson has his back against the cage and climbs up on Dodson to rain strikes down! Dodson initiates a clinch again as Rogan notes how incompetent the judges might be as he prepares for a controversial decision. Dodson now working for a takedown but Johnson is defending well. Dodson does get the takedown but Johnson is like a whack-a-mole and pops up yet again. Johnson keeping up a furious pace on Dodson and he has Dodson hurt against the cage. Johnson trying to unload but Dodson ties him up. Thai plum for Johnson and he knees the face. Dodson breaks away and smiles, honestly. More knees from Johnson and Dodson is bleeding from the nose. The fight ends with Johnson kneeing Dodson in the face and I think Johnson will take this on the judges scorecards due to his unbreakable cardio and strong performance in the later rounds.
Demetrious Johnson defeats John Dodson via unanimous decision
Mighty Mouse remains the only UFC Flyweight champ so far. I predict that these guys will meet again, maybe many more times. Johnson will win most of the time but I can see Dodson getting a (T)KO at some point down the road. Great night of fights, two finishes, two exciting decisions. Thanks for hanging out.
Almost a year ago, the 125-pound flyweight division introduced itself to the UFC. The division saw plenty of high-energy fighters and technical, skill-heavy bouts. Critics enjoyed the fast-paced bouts but along the line, they also grew aware of the durability of the fighters.