UFC 192 Picks

The Summer saw a number of changes in the UFC. New champions were crowned but now we start to see if these changes led to new status quos or more changes is coming. UFC 192 will see a first title defense and two fights that could crown the next number one contenders in two divisions.

UFC Light Heavyweight Championship Daniel Cormier © 16-1 MMA 5-1 UFC vs. Alexander Gustafsson 16-3 MMA 8-3 UFC- Cormier last fought at UFC 187 in May. We all know the story Jon Jones got in trouble was stripped of the title. DC got the fight with Anthony Johnson for the vacant title. First thirty seconds Rumble drops DC with a power punch. But Cormier survived and got past the flurry made it a wrestling match and wore Johnson out. Finally in the third he submitted Johnson and after not winning a NCAA title, not winning an Olympic medal, and not winning the UFC title the first time became the top guy in his weight class. Gustafsson last fought in January. He lost to Rumble Johnson in his home country. It was a huge fight on Fox with the number 1 contender status on the line. Rumble knocks him out in the first round. But post fight footage shows that he was headbutted early on and well you do wonder how much that affected him. And even with that loss The Mauler is still one of the top ranked guys at 205 lbs. This is a very interesting fight DC beat the guy that beat Gustafsson but Gustafsson in a lot of people's estimation should have beat Jon Jones at UFC 165. And Jones is that 1 in the loss column for DC.

Striking both guys have Knockout power. Gustafsson has 10 career wins via knockout and only been knocked out once via knockout in the Johnson fight. Cormier has KO power and even knocked guys out at heavyweight. If this fight is at range than its to the advantage of Gustafsson also I say he's the better kick boxer. If this fight is in close with the striking than it's to DC. Overall though I gotta give the edge to Gustafsson. A big part of the reason Johnson gave him trouble was the height. DC is pretty short even at 205. Wrestling no doubt the advantage goes to Daniel Cormier. He was a great amateur wrestler. And well wrestling was the big key for Phil Davis when he beat Gustafsson. However we have seen Alexander improve his wrestling greatly. He even started training with Davis to improve his wrestling. We saw it in the fight with Jones. Jon Jones could not take Gustafsson down. And late in that fight we saw Gustafsson take Jones down. But still advantage for Cormier.

A real X-Factor will be activity in my opinion. Gustafsson only fought once in 2014 and so far only once in 2015. Part of that was waiting for Jones he also got hurt, along with taking time for to mourn with the death of his father. DC has a fairly regular fighter I do think being active is better than being inactive. My pick is Daniel Cormier. I would love for Gustafsson to win this but I think DC being more active. We know how good his wrestling is and his boxing has improved greatly. I think this go the distance and the champion retains via decision.

Johnny Hendricks 17-3 MMA 12-3 UFC vs. Tyron Woodley 15-3 MMA 5-2 UFC- This fight has some back story. Back when these two were among the best college wrestler in the country they wrestled. Hendricks won that match but Woodley complained he pulled some dirty tactics. Pretty much since Hendricks lost the title to Robbie Lawler, Woodley has been calling for this fight. Woodley believe a win here would make him number 1 contender and Hendricks thought he was getting a shot at Lawler until this fight was announced. Given the current state of Welterweight it does appear the winner of this fight will get the winner of Condit vs. Lawler. Hendricks last fought at UFC 185 in March he beat Matt Brown. A fight he really used his wrestling to get a decision win. He took Brown down time and again and made sure the Immortal never got his stand up going. Woodley last fought in January he beat Kelvin Gastlum via decision at UFC 183.

Both these guys as I said were great wrestlers. In terms of straight wrestling I give the edge to Hendricks he was better and more accomplished in the NCAA and well he beat Woodley in a wrestling match.

Now both these guys have gotten a large number of win via knockout. So the striking could very interesting. Hendricks has eight career wins via knockout and never been knocked out. Woodley has five career KO wins and only been knocked out once. But that was early in his career when he was still pretty much just a wrestler. Hendricks it always seems to be all about that big powerful left hand. Woodley seems to be a little more diverse. Another edge will be the fact that Woodley has five more inches of reach. Honestly I could see either guy landing that big shot and knocking the other out. Or even just landing that big shot that takes the hurts the guy. The edge I am going to give to Woodley.

One of the X-Factors is the cardio for both men. We know Hendricks can go into long fights. He's gone the distance vs. GSP and Lawler. He doesn’t really seem to tire out. Woodley we have seen gas out. That played a factor in both his losses to Mardquart and MacDonald. Woodley is the kind of fighter that puts a lot into every single punch trying to finish. But if he can't finish the fight he tires out. Why I could see Woodley knocking Hendricks out it won't be easy. Robbie Lawler couldn't do it and well if you can last vs. Lawler you can last vs. anyone. Plus we saw it vs. Brown and even Condit if Hendricks feels your a threat standing up he will take you down. This has the potential to be a very close fight but I am going with Hendricks to get the win. Plus Woodley has tried to break through to the next level but always come a little short. Hendricks has beat some elite fighters.

Ryan Bader 19-4 MMA 12-4 UFC vs. Rashad Evans 19-3-1 MMA 14-3-1 UFC- Ryan Bader was set to fight Daniel Cormier earlier this year. Than everything with Jones went down. DC got the title shot and well Bader felt slighted because he's on a four fight winning streak and was highly ranked guy in the division on a streak. That led to an argument at the press conference at UFC 187. If Badder can win this fight he can get that title shot he feels he should have had already. For Rashad Evans this fight is the chance to come back and get right into title contention. He was supposed to fight Cormier in the latter’s light heavyweight debut but suffered an injury and has fought since. Like I said Bader enters on a fought fight winning streak. Last time he fought it was in January he beat Phil Davis via decision it wasn't a spectacular fight. But it puts him at four win in a row. And in the past when fought a guy as highly touted as Davis he would lose. Evans is on a two fight winning streak back at UFC 167 in 2013 he easily knocked out Chael Sonnen.

Bader has a 74 inch reach he's had six career wins via knockout. However he hasn't knocked anyone out since 2011. He used to be the guy that just put it all into every shot now's he a little more technical. Bader has lost twice via knockout. Also in the most infamous loss of his carer to Tito Ortiz he was hurt with a punch. Evans has 75 inches in the reach and seven career knockouts. Only been KO'ed once. Bader is mostly a puncher we have seen Evans use kicks and his movement is better. On paper the edge goes to Evans but can find his timing and range after a long layoff. And Bader has gotten better.

Both men are former Wrestlers. Evans at Michigan and Bader at Arizona State. Bader is the more accomplished wrestler. Evans has gotten away from wrestling over the years wanting to do more striking. Bader has two career submission but not since 2013. He's lost twice to via Submission once to Jon Jones and the Tito Ortiz fight again that was a long time ago. Evans has two career submission wins but that was early in his career. He's never been submitted. In terms of grappling I am going with Bader. More active use of wrestling. And again the long layoff worries me.

The pick is hard here. Bader has a good winning streak but it's not against super elite fighters. But he's also been getting better and these fights show a more well rounded fighter. Evans I think is the better but I just can't pick a guy coming off that long a layoff. So I am going with Bader. I think the layoff will be the difference. Also don't under estimate how important the motivation of being slighted in his mind will be for Bader.

Shawn Jordan 18-6 MMA 6-3 UFC vs. Ruslan Magomedov 13-1 MMA 2-0 UFC- Jordan last fought in June he knocked out Derrick Lewis with a Superkick that puts him on a three fight winning streak. Magomdedov last fought in November beating Josh Copeland via decision. His lone career loss was way back in 2011 in only his fifth career fight. Classic vet fight with a mixed record vs. Up and comer that's never been tested. Huge power advantage for Jordan 14 career wins via KO. Now Jordan has been knocked out 4 times. But Magomedov only has four career knockouts but he hasn't had one since 2011. So I gotta give the striking advantage to Jordan.

Grappling wise not much of an advantage for either. Jordan's history is as a football player he's not a wrestler he has 3 career submission wins. Magoedov has 2. Neither man has never been submitted. And it's been years since either had a submission win. So I'm going to call this even. This isn't an easy fight to pick. I'm going with Jordan why he's not an elite heavyweight he has faced some good fighters. I think that's the difference here. Don't be shocked if he gets another knockout.

Jessica Eye 11-3 1 NC MMA 1-2 1 NC UFC vs. Julianna Pena 6-2 MMA 2-0 UFC- We have a clear cut idea who the top of the Women's Bantemweight Division. The problem is because the champion has been so dominate she easily beat the top contenders so its hard to justify rematches. Thus it opens the door for others. That is why we saw Corriea get a title shot that is part of why Holm is getting a title shot. A win may not give them a title shot but it will put them closer. Eye is coming off as loss back in July losing to Miesha Tate via unanimous decision. Early on she was looking really dominating the fight looked like she could win. But she has a few bad habits one of which is backing up with her chin up. She did that Tate caught her and from there Tate took over. She hurt her with punches and got some take downs. Pena last fought in April beating Milana Dudieva via decision. Pena is a former TUF winner but she had been out for over a year due to a leg injury. A lot of people think Pena has potential to be a great fighter.

I would defiantly say Eye is the better technical striker she's got great speed and flurries real well. But Pena has knockout power that Eye lacks. Both have 3 career knockout wins but for Pena that is in much fewer fights. And well we saw in the Tate fight that Eye leaves herself open. If this become a brawl or it's done in one shot a piece style fighting than Pena. If Eye can work combos her advantage. Clear advantage on the ground for Pena she has 3 submission wins. We have seen grapple more in her fights. Eye has shown good takedown defense but not so good she can't just shrug Pena off at will.

Given the records in the UFC and how a lot of people hype up Pena it would seem that is the pick to make. But I'm going with Eye. Main reason is we have seen her look so good vs. tougher competition. She originally won the Kauffman fight before it was made a no contest. She looked good early vs. Tate. I admit it's a roll of the dice. But I think Pena hasn't really been tested yet.

Joseph Benvidez 22-4 MMA 9-2 UFC vs. Ali Bagautinov 13-3 MMA 3-1 UFC- Benvidez is in a tough spot. He is one of the very best at Flyweight. He's a great wrestlers who has become very good at submissions and he's striking has gotten excellent. The problem is his two UFC losses are both to Demetrius Johnson and both were in title fights. So long as DJ remains champion its hard for him get another shot. The only other way to get another shot is to fight and beat the other top contenders. Except her really doesn't get matched up with them. So you wonder is the UFC not wanting to put him in those fights or are guys ducking him not wanting to risk a loss and loss there title shot? Bagautinov is another former title challenger. But he lost a very one sided fight to Johnson. Making it worse for him he tested postie for EPO and got suspended.

Striking I am gong to give the edge to Benavidez. He has six career KO wins. He was with Alpha Male during Bang Ludwig's time there so he learned some good stuff. Bagautinov has five career wins five KO. But I don't think he has the ability to land that big shot like Johnson did. I think part of the reason Benvidez doesn't have more knockouts is due to the fact he's very well rounded so if he hurts someone he isn't just punching away he's looking for submissions. So yeah clear edge to Benavidez.

Grappling is where both these men made there mark. Benavidez of course a wrestler and out of Alpha Male one of the greatest wrestling camps in all of MMA. Bagautinov very accomplished grappler he's a sambo fighter and has won wrestling and BJJ championships in Russia. So I am splitting this category. I think Bagautinov is better at getting the takedown. But Benavidez is more likely to get a submission win. He has nine while his opponent only has five.

I'm going with Chalk here and picking Benavidez to pick up the win. We have seen him fight and beat a lot of tough guys. He's used to this big fights. And well his only losses are to Johnson a guy who might be the best P4P in the world and Dominick Cruz who is pretty damn good in his own right. The layoff the lack of elite opponents. The knowledge how one sided his own fight with Johnson was all seems to much for Bagautinov to overcome.

Rose Namajunas 2-2 MMA 0-1 UFC vs. Angela Hill 2-1 MMA 0-1 UFC- Both these fighters were on Season 20 of TUF. Namajunas record is some what deceptive. She last fought in December losing to Carla Esperanza via submission. Officially that is second loss in a row. But on TUF she went 3-0 in fight that don't count on her record and she finished all 3 via submission. She was supposed to fight back in May but day of the fight her opponent fell ill and pulled out. Tough thing for her since she had gone through the whole camp and because it was so late no way to find a replacement. Hill last fought in June losing a decision to Tecia Torres.

To me this is a pretty easy pick I am giving the edge in both grappling and striking to Namajunas. Thug Rose has two career submission wins another three if you count her run in the TUF house. Hill seems to mostly be a striker but honestly Namajunas is a damn good technical striker. Plus she's worked with some great coach including Duke Rufous and her long standing relationship with Pat Barry. So of course I'm going with Rose Namajunas I think her striking is enough to beat Hill and if this goes to the ground I think it's over.

Dynamite 1 Fallout

It was Bellator's Big Night. An event they had spent months hyping. The basket they put all there eggs into. It not only featured a big title fight with Tito Ortiz who for better or worse has come the face of Bellator in recent years challenging. It also featured a one night tournament and it was a hybrid show with Glory Kickboxing rules fights. The truth is Bellator could have done three separate shows with each of those as the hook. Instead though they went for broke. And I can't help but feel the event was a let down. Don't get me wrong I have seen worse shows. By no means were these the worst fights I have seen. But this show just felt like a missed chance. Instead of a major event it felt like two average shows put together.

Of course the biggest news coming out of Dynamite 1 was Fedor Emilenko's return to MMA and his reunion with the founder of Pride. Fedor's return will headline a New Year's Eve event that will be broadcast on Spike TV. The problem for Bellator is this show appears to one they have nothing to do with. The announcement began with Kevin Kay of Spike TV not Bellator boss Scott Coker introducing it. No mention was made of Bellator during the segment. Some have suggested Bellator will co-promote the unnamed event but it didn't come off that way. If they were going to co-promote or even loan one of there fighters as Fedor's foe it would have made all the sense in the world. Instead Fedor, Kay, and Nobuyuki Sakakibara stood together as Scott Coker snuck into the photo at the last second.

Production wise I really felt like I was watching a Pride FC tribute show and I mean that in a bad way. One thing Coker had going for him was the fact Strikeforce came off as it's own product. Same with Bellator back when it started. But since Viacom took over more and more it feels like Bellator is about using stars from other companies. For better or worse Tito Ortiz has become the face of Bellator. The spent big money on Phil Davis and brought in veteran Josh Thompson. Davis can be viewed a coup given his top five ranking but the fact Thompson I don't they really needed to go after. Thompson entered the show on a 3 fight skid. On top of that he's nearing age 37 and had openly talked about retirement. Honestly I feel Bellator would have been better off giving Thompson slot to another younger fighter. And I'm not the only one the feels this way as current Bellator Lightweight champion Will Brooks lashed out at the company on Twitter after Liam McGreay's interview was cut short to let Tito Ortiz talk.

Now like I said this felt like Pride Tribute show and it was clear that is what they were going for. In all the build up for the event we were reminded time and again about the old Pride and K-1 crossover shows. The stage was built to look like Pride's old event. They not only brought out fighters for a parade but even spent money to bring in Pride's old announcer. The problem is they are not Pride. Pride was it's own thing. It had it's own rules it had the best fighters in the world. Bellator might hope it can win over fans looking for a Pride fix but honestly I think those fans will just watch Fight Pass

The In Ring Action- The main card started with the first match of the tournament Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal taking on Linton Vassell. Over the last few years Mo has tried to be come more of pure boxer. It seemed like a recipe for disaster given Vassell's massive reach. But Lawal got more brawl style in this time landing a number of power punches that hurt Vassell in the first round. Surprisingly Mo didn't seem like he tried to finish often allowing Vassell to recover and get back into fight. Post fight King Mo blamed a slick canvas. He clearly slipped early on and fighters on the prelims also slipped. Vassell had better second round but never took control. It appeared Lawal had stamped his ticket to the finals but suffered an injury during the fight that took him out. The second fight of the opening round featured Phil Davis' Bellator debut against former champion Emmanuel Newton. In his two prior fights coming in Newton has looked awful and that trend continued here. Newton never got going and Davis easily took him down and submitted him. It gave Davis his first finish since 2010 but the problem is it doesn’t' show Davis is any better. Newton doesn't represent an elight fighter just another guy Davis would have easily beat in the UFC.

Than it was time to move to the Glory portion of the night. Calling it Glory isn't fair as only one fight featured Glory fighters instead two of the fighters were about promoting Bellator fighters using Kickboxing fights. Keri Anne Taylor-Melendez entered with a 2-1 Kickboxing record but hadn't fought in years. Still though she looked much better than her Hadley Griffinth who was making her kickboxing debut. Griffinth has fought MMA in the past but in six pro fight and eight total counting her armature career she only won once. It was a terrible mismatch. Melendez through great combinations landing at will. Griffith looked nervous and unable to land anything. There was never any doubt that Melendez was going to win. Now I have no problem with having Women fight but the problem is this wasn't the start of Glory doing a women's division. It was made clear Melendez will soon debut for Bellator. The second Glory Rules fight saw Paul Daley battle Fernando Gonzalez. Both men have kick boxed in the past but are more known as MMA fighters.

I really don't get this. Daley had openly called out Glory's best. Why giving him Nikey Hozelkin was unlikely there were still plenty of good fighters Glory could have used. That said I would assume it was Bellator or Viacom that came up with this. Using the Glory ring and name but just hoping Daley would score a big knockout and not have to worry about the ground game. The MMA side of things picked up with Josh Thompson making his Bellator debut. Thompson was given an easy win over Mike Bronzoulis. It was clear Bronzoulis had no answers for Thompson on the ground as The Punk stopped a three fight skid. Finally some actual Glory Kickboxers stepped into the ring as Saulo Cavalair re-matched with Zack Mwekassa for the vacant light heavyweight title.. Last time Cavalair knocked the Black Beast out with a head kick and tried to replicate that magic. The fight was good. Sadly the Glory Light Heavyweight division was built around Tyrone Spoong who had fought for Glory since a leg injury. And former champion Gokhan Saki who vacated the title after a contract dispute.

Than it was time to return tournament and the last thing Bellator wanted to happen happened. Going into this event Bellator made it clear they would have an alternate bout but didn’t' want the winner to actually advance. They even modified the rules to give the judges two chances to pick a winner in event of a draw. They had said “If the winner of a round cant' advance than the loser will.” The commission though stopped that. King Mo suffered a rib injury and was unable to move on. Under Bellator's modified rules that should have meant Linton Vassell got a second chance. Except the California Commission refused to allow that saying Vassell had taken to many punches in the head. Instead Francis Carmont advanced. Carmont has mostly fought at middleweight. He was a mid to low level fighter in the UFC. Davis easily knocked him out. But it's hard to be impressed by it. The UFC would be ripped to pieces if they had booked this fight. Of course Davis won this fight he's a better fighter from a higher weight class.

Finally it was main event time. For better or worse Bellator has built itself around Tito Ortiz. They put him big fights. They keep doing Unrivaled specials to hype him up. Early on Ortiz manged to score a takedown and seemed to turn back the clock until he was caught in an inverted triangle by champion Liam McGeary. The fact McGeary was so easily taken down by Ortiz is worrying but he still managed to get the win. Ortiz who is usually an excuse machine opening declared this was the best he's been in years and gave McGEary the credit for what he did.

Biggest Winners

RFA and WSOF- Both companies put on very good shows that were better than Dynamite. Hopefully people checked them out. Bellator is clearly number 2 in terms of size but it's not number 2 in terms of putting on the best show.

Liam McGeary- He kept the title. Even with all the promotion built around Ortiz most knew going it McGeary should win. Still though fights like this scream trap. And down side of losing isn't people going “He lost to a legend.” Its people going “He lost to a guy that one like one fight in the UFC since 2006. It juts shows how bad Bellator is.” The win doesn't make McGeary elite but it shows he's not a can. Also a win over Phil Davis will get people talking. Plus if nothing else McGeary can smile knowing he jacked up what ever plans Viacom had.

Phil Davis- Similar to McGeary, Davis was expected to win. But how many times have we seen heavy favorite upset? Davis did what he needed to do he came into the event in shape ready to fight. Why there are doubts about how good the men he beat are compared to fighters he's already faced and beat. Still though Davis got his first finish in years and than capped off the event with another one.

Biggest Losers

Glory- This show did get a lot of press and the idea of having Kickboxing and MMA could be a good hook. Glory has often tried to use MMA fighter to promote the company. This could have been a great chance to win over MMA fans. The problem as I said above was the fact two of the three Glory Rules fight weren't with Glory fighters. When I watch Glory I see high level technical fighters and many great finishes. Two of the fights were pretty one sided mis matches. Also it doesn't help none of the fighter were finished. With two of the winners moving back to Bellator, Glory can't even promote them on upcoming cards.

Emanuel Newton- Remember when this guy was on a winning streak held the Bellator Title and could be argued as a legit top ten fighter? Man that seems like forever ago. The warning signs were there against Linton Vassell. Newton looked off in the fight and needed a fifth round submission to keep his title. That could be explained away as one bad night one bad match up than he looked even worse against Liam McGreary this time there would be no last second finish to save his title. Worse for Newton he tested positive for Pot. Newton talked a good talk before the fight. Admitted he had taken things to easy. Had bought own hype to much. Than Newton went out and looked awful against Phil Davis. Yes Davis was the heavy favorite going into the event. But that is 3 awful fights in a row and 2 bad losses in a row. Newton is 45 fights into his career you have to wonder if his best days are behind him.

So Miesha Tate is upset still about Holm getting the title shot. She's going "I don't trust the UFC. I won't be pushed around." I get to a point why she is upset BUT
UFC has done a lot for Tate. Including giving Tate a title shot and a sport on TUF after Zingano got hurt. I mean yeah Tate earned a title shot but back than I'm sure someone like Davis or someone else was going "Cat's hurt and Miesha lost I should get the shot I'm next in line."
Plus I remind everyone Tate's had her 2 chances and couldn't beat Rousey. Its not like she's a different fighter with new tricks. Just my thoughts.

UFC 191 Fallout

What to do with Demetrious Johnson? The UFC is in a strange spot. The first and only Flyweight champion is easily one of the most talented fighters in MMA. He may just be the most technically sound fighter we will ever. He's dominated the division for years now. He's never had a wiff scandal in his career. Unlike some fighters who coast to the victory he's always trying to finish. But for what ever reason Johnson has never connected with the fans like the UFC has wanted. His buy rates and TV ratings are among the lowest the UFC gets for championship fight. There isn't a great among casual fans when Johnson is getting ready to fight.

Of course Johnson doesn't seem to care. Perhaps rather smartly he seems happy to fight his style of fights build his legacy and figure if greater fame and fortune will come than they will come. No doubt the UFC was hoping for a super exciting rematch with Johnson and Dodson. After all Dodson the man who rocked the champion still posed a power punch that could damage. Instead though UFC 191 was just another night where Johnson looked to be a pro fighting an armature.

The In Ring Action- Dodson's best chance to win was to land a powerful shot. But that was easier said than done. Johnson has vastly improved since the first fight and never lot Dodson land that clean shot that could do real damage. Dodson is a counter striker but Johnson never gave him a chance to counter seemingly landing and forcing Dodson to defend rather than counter. Even when Dodson did land it was more a reaction to what Johnson was doing. Dodson did block a number of takedowns early on but that wasn't enough. By the end of the fight Johnson was able to take Dodson off his feet. Johnson was trying to break his challenger but never quite could. But there no doubt who the better fighter is. The semi main event many were hoping for an exciting throw down. Both Andre Arlovski and Frank Mir were coming off back to back KO's. On top of that both men have numerous highlight reel finishes. We didn’t' get that. Both men were cautious. Not wanting to make a mistake and get caught. Mir clearly won round two but one and three were could have gone either way. Arlovski seemed disappointed in his performance but he still got the win.

Anthony Johnson rebounded strongly with a win over Jimi Manuwa. Using more wrestling than he has in a while Johnson took Manuwa down and tired him out before landing a devastating punch to knock the UK fighter out. How Johnson will fair facing a higher level wrestler remains to be seen but he is working on the skill. Corey Anderson rebounded from his first career loss with the most dominate win of his young career. Anderson's wrestling allowed him to keep putting Jan Blachowicz on his back taking away his striking ability. The main card opened with Paige Vanzant dominating Alex Chambers. PVZ never gave the Chambers a breaks every second fight she seemed to be coming forward and jerking her around in the clinch.

The prelims easily featured the best fight of the night. John Linker and Franciso Rivera went crazy throwing hay makers for about two minutes straight before the fight spilled to the ground and Linker got a guillotine submission. That wasn't the only highlight from the free portion. Raquel Pennington managed to avenge her previous loss to Jessica Andrade. Rocky found herself down when she escaped a mounted position late in the second and than secured a rear naked choke for the win. Pennington is the type of fighter who simply is better than her record would indicate.

Biggest Winners

Demetrius Johnson- Sadly like I said at the start of this article Johnson will have his detractors. IT could even be heard during the main event as fans booed. But there is no denying Johnson's talent. He's not moved closer to the all time record for most UFC title defenses. His victory over Dodson was nearly flawless. He shut Dodson down for the most part. Dodson was among the very short list of contenders that people thought could beat Johnson. But it appears that window closed. Johnson and his teamed had adjusted to Dodson's skill set and knew how to take his advantages away. Some day people will look back at Johnson's accomplishments and realize what a special champion he was. But Johnson by all indications will be holding that belt for a long time to come.

In many ways Johnson is as close to Floyd Mayweather as MMA may ever get. Obviously I'm not talking about personality. But Mayweather has made a career out of taking as little punishment as he can. For a man that was in a twenty five minute fight Johnson looked more like he had engaged in some light cardio. Like Mayweather Johnson also makes supposed world class fighter look like they have no idea what they are doing. Johnson made Dodson punch the air a lot.

Paige Vanzant- Vanzant has quickly become a star in the UFC. Of course it's not without controversy. Detractors see the pretty young girl ans assume it's purely her looks that got her there. Coming into UFC 191 Vanzant had done all she could to silence those people she was 2-0 and coming off a strong win over veteran Felice Herring. The Chambers fight could have been a trap fight. Chambers isn't ranked and she not was not viewed as overly dangerous. Its the kind of fight anyone could look past and be more worried about the next fight. Vanzant though didn't fall into the trap. There are still clearly holes in Vanzant's game at times she was caught by Chambers and even admits she was worried to take the fight to the ground. But Vanzant has shown improvement in every UFC fight she has had. Vanzant and her team seem to be willing to take it slow as they know she's not ready for a title shot. But slow for Vanzant will be faster than most.

Biggest Losers

John Dodson- Dodson joins the already lost twice to a dominate champion along side Miesha Tate and fellow flyweight Joseph Benavidez. So long as Johnson is the top man at 125 the odds of Dodson getting another title shot are long. Dodson has the speed and power to remain a top contender for years to come. But even if he does string together a long winning streak they argument will always be “he's had his chances lets give someone knew a shot.” Just ask Tate about that. It doesn't help Dodson talked big before the fight. Talking about “Saving” the flyweight division before moving up to beat Dillishaw again. The truth is though he can't even claim “I knocked him down.” After this fight and it doesn't appear the current John Dodson could move up and be any threat to the current TJ Dillishaw. Dodson remains very much the same fighter he was on TUF. If he lands he can win but against the elite that just isn't enough.

Joe Riggs- Diesel Riggs got his first win in the UFC in a very long time but it's a win in name only. Riggs was badly beat up by Ron Stallings and his eye was closing fast. Than in the second Stallings landed an illegal up kick when Riggs was a downed fighter. Replays showed the kick landed on the jaw and no where near the eye. Riggs though claimed he couldn't see and the ref incorrectly believed the kick caused the problem. The truth is Riggs got a gift win instead of an injury stoppage loss. Not helping Riggs he missed weight despite moving up to middleweight from welterweight. It's nothing personal against Riggs but he's a fighter with 58 career fights he had lost two in a row since returning to the UFC and should have lost this one.

Jan Blachowicz- The guy fought a three round fight and two judges scored it 30-25 against him. Blachowicz gassed badly and all but gave up in his fight with Anderson. He found some early success with his kickboxing. But once Anderson took got the momentum Blachowicz seemed lost. Even worse for Blachowicz this a major chance for him to show something. Even if he had lost but looked good or exciting fans would have wanted to him again. Instead he's now 0-2 in the UFC with an awful one sided loss on a big show. Don't be shocked if Jan Blachowicz is on cut list.

What Come Next- Trying to figure out who is next for Johnson is a growing challenge. Johnson is dominate and so skilled in every area of MMA there isn't someone who would appear to have any advantage on him. Many have penciled in former gold medal winner Henry Cejudo in as the next challenger. Cejduo has a fight booked with Jussier Formiga in November. With Formiga ranked third and on a three fight winning streak there is no reason not to give the winner of that fight the next title shot. Unless the UFC decides to do Dillishaw vs. Johnson for the Bantamweight title but with Dominick Cruz still out there that isn't likely. Paige Vanzant and her team admit they don't want to rush her into a title shot. Vanzant has holes in her game but physical gifts have allowed her to over come them. So there is no reason to rush her into a top level fight I see two possibility. One is Randa Markos who according to the most recent UFC rankings is at 7 while PVZ is 6. Markos has few more fight and while she has a 5-3 record she has looked good at times. The other Rose Namjunas. Thug Rose appeared to be the break star in the making after TUF 20 but lost to Carla Esparza in the finals. She hasn't fought since but is set to face Angela Hill at UFC 192. Like PVZ, Namjunas is young has tons of potential but has some gaps to fill in.

As I said earlier John Dodson is in a tough spot. He's lost twice to the champion but remains a top contender. He's not good enough to the best but good enough to beat most. As a result you could see some fighters on the verge of title shot not want to face him in order keep said shot in tact. So its easy have him face Joseph Benavidez. Benavidez has been in limbo since his second loss to Johnson he's getting fights but nothing to get him closer to a third show. Plus can you really say it wouldn't be a good fight? Andrei Arlovski had a less than impressive win over Frank Mir that appeared to not move him any closer to another title shot. With the rematch between Werdum and Velasquez delayed until March the Pitbull still earn another title shot. I say give him either the winner of JDS vs. Overreem. Either way it would be two great strikers. And all three men hold a win over Werdum.