The UFC makes its return to our screens next Saturday the 5th of September with the 125lbs Flyweight Championship on the line. Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson (21-2-1) defends his belt for the seventh time in total and the second time against his opponent and number one ranked flyweight John ‘ The Magician’ Dodson (18-6-0).
Johnson last defended his belt at UFC 186 in Montreal, Canada back in April this year. Unfortunately for Mighty Mouse Johnson, UFC 186 was an incredibly forgettable card. The original main event between Renan Barao and TJ Dillashaw had to be scraped when the Bantamweight Champion Dillashaw broke a rib, Canadian superstar Rory McDonalds fight against Hector Lombard was scrapped when Lombard was popped for PED use and the card was to feature the return to the UFC of Quentin ‘ Rampage’ Jackson after a spell at Bellator MMA. Due to a legal dispute, Jackson was initially unable to compete at UFC 186 but a last minute overturning meant Rampage did make the walk to the Octagon but by that stage the damage was done and PPV views and attendance numbers were record lows.
As I wrote on this blog way back in March, Demetrious Johnson has not been a big pull for the UFC when it comes to selling pay per views. However as a champion, the UFC do have to give him a main or co main event slot on whatever card he is on. At both of his last two originally scheduled fights, UFC 177 and 186, Mighty Mouse was originally the co main event but due to injuries, he was bumped to the main event at UFC 178 and UFC 186 respectively.
Next week’s event is different as Mighty Mouse is now headlining the card from the get go. To support their Flyweight Champion with his PPV numbers, the UFC have turned UFC 191 into a stacked event. Leading up to the event I will be giving a preview of several high profile fights on the card. This will include Paul Felder vs Ross Pearson, Alex Chambers vs Paige Van Zant, Anthony Johnson vs Jimi Manuwa, Andrei Arlovski vs Frank Mir and the main event Demetrious Johnson vs John Dodson. As usual I will also be giving predictions on all these fights.
The last time the pair first met below.
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