UFC 191 Results: The Real Winners & Losers from Johnson vs. Dodson 2 Fight Card
UFC 191 gave us yet another brilliant performance from Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson.
The flyweight champion stood across from the only man to truly threaten his title reign—John Dodson. In their first fight, Dodson dropped him and nearly came away with the belt, but the champion showed his resolve in hanging tough to win a decision.
On Saturday, it wasn't close. Johnson schooled Dodson. Mighty Mouse was never in any danger, and the flyweight challenger had no answers for the speed and pressure of the champion.
In the co-main event, Andrei Arlovski kept his winning streak intact by nabbing a decision over Frank Mir. The fight wasn't much to write home about, but the two former champions competed for 15 minutes, leaving one in title contention.
Nine other bouts filled out the card, but who came out as the real winners and losers? That is what we will take a look at following the action from Las Vegas at UFC 191.
Winner: Joe Riggs
1 of 9
Another Joe Riggs fight had another weird ending. But this time he was on the winning end of things!
Riggs' career has been filled with oddities both in and out of the cage. He injured himself against Ben Saunders in his last outing, and before that he somehow managed to shoot himself with a handgun. On Saturday, the fight was called because of an infraction.
Ron Stallings hurt Riggs with a stiff jab and caused issues with his eye, but it was an errant upkick that brought the fight to a stop. It didn't appear the kick hit Riggs in the damaged eye, but he told the doctor he couldn't see. The referee stopped the fight on the advice of the doctor, and Riggs got a disqualification victory.
Prior to the strange ending, Riggs was doing well for himself with ground-and-pound. Fortunately for the vet, he was not on the losing end of another random occurrence. That is why he is a winner—by sheer luck.
Winner: John Lineker
2 of 9
Wow! What a brief fight!
John Lineker was a big power puncher at flyweight, but an inability to consistently make weight forced him to bantamweight. He carried over his power to 135 pounds.
Francisco Rivera is also a power puncher and the bigger man. Entering the fight, the question was: Would Rivera throw hands wildly with Lineker or take a more tactical approach against a fighter who historically fades as the fight draws on?
It was the former.
Rivera threw hands and got absolutely clocked. Somehow, he managed to stay in the fight for a bit. However, Lineker kept hitting him and eventually sunk in a guillotine after an out-of-it Rivera scored a weak takedown. Rivera tapped out to the choke, and Lineker picked up an important victory.
The victory is also big for the division. Bantamweight needs contenders badly, and Lineker's power makes him an enticing challenger for whoever the champion may be by the time he works himself into a legitimate contender. This performance announces Lineker as a serious threat at 135 pounds.
Loser: Paul Felder
3 of 9
Paul Felder saw his stock rise quite a bit in a loss to Edson Barboza earlier this summer. It was a fun, exciting, technical battle. When he was booked against Ross Pearson, fans thought they would see more of the same.
They did not.
Felder was off on Saturday.
He threw his fair share of strikes from the outside, but he was out of range most of the time. Then he would walk into range and not throw anything, and Pearson would land. Felder would mean mug and start to walk Pearson down while not throwing yet again. It was strange.
That is not to suggest Felder didn't land any offense of his own. He did. Just not nearly enough and not nearly effective.
I didn't have it as a particularly close fight. Pearson was the clear winner. As for Felder, the goodwill he earned against Barboza went away at UFC 191.
Now he's just another mid-tier lightweight to be forgotten.
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Loser: Paige VanZant
4 of 9
Yes, Paige VanZant won the fight, but that's it. She delivered another dominant performance, and here she sits in the top 10 on a four-fight win streak. That will force the UFC's hand in pitting her opposite a legitimate threat.
And that's not going to be good for her.
VanZant has big holes in her game. She's young (21), so that's to be expected. However, when you are still growing and find yourself about to take a beating because there isn't much left for you, that isn't ideal. And that's where she is.
The UFC can schedule her against someone else outside the top 10. That would be for the best. I just don't have faith the UFC will do that. It will likely be a top-10 fight for VanZant. She is capable of winning these fights, but her weaknesses can be exploited.
VanZant doesn't have great striking defense, and she is more or less just a pressure fighter at this juncture. What happens when a skilled, power striker connects? Or when she can't score the takedown?
Trouble, that's what.
It was a good performance, but she doesn't have a bright future ahead if her bad habits continue.
Losers: Corey Anderson, Jan Blachowicz, the UFC, Fans
5 of 9
Well, that was just awful.
Even on paper before UFC 191 you could identify Corey Anderson vs. Jan Blachowicz as one that would most likely be lackluster. And it was worse.
Why was it on the pay-per-view?
Fights that were almost sure to be exciting such as John Lineker vs. Francisco Rivera were put on the undercard. There was almost no way that fight would be less than fun, but the UFC still put Anderson vs. Blachowicz on the main card. It was baffling.
There wasn't a winner in this one. Everyone lost, including the UFC. Why did the company put this on PPV? It was terrible.
Loser: Anthony Johnson
6 of 9
Anthony Johnson is a skilled and ferocious fighter. Unfortunately, he just doesn't come across like a good human being.
Allegations of domestic violence have been well-documented, and the UFC continues to fail to act. This week allegations of possible animal abuse cropped up in a Change.org petition against the fighter. It includes a Facebook post where Johnson responded: "Didn't know I can't do what I wanna do with whatever I bought. Hmmmmm that's new to me!"
Following his impressive win over a tough Jimi Manuwa, he walked passed media row with harsh words for his critics (warning: contains profanity). Everything up to this point would have signaled Johnson as a winner after getting back in the win column and establishing himself as a title contender.
He just cannot get out of his own way.
Losers: Frank Mir and Andrei Arlovski
7 of 9
Andrei Arlovski may have been the most deserving heavyweight for a title shot entering the evening, and Frank Mir was coming in off two recent wins. The former heavyweight champions, many thought, were back.
Not quite.
They exposed each other as being the old, beaten-down heavyweights we thought they were before they started to win a bit again. And it wasn't remotely entertaining. To make matters worse, there was a contentious decision at the end. It wasn't even a definitive fight.
Arlovski got the win, and that should be enough for a title fight. I'm just not sure anybody wants to see it anymore.
As for Mir, I don't know what's next for him. He doesn't have anything left to prove, and Saturday night's performance should show he doesn't have what it takes to be a serious title threat anymore. This fight was more depressing than anything else. It was not a quality showing by either fighter, and the result offered no upside to the UFC.
Winner: Demetrious Johnson
8 of 9
This is your pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. There's no way around that fact.
Demetrious Johnson is a wizard. His technique is flawless. There isn't a flyweight in the world who can touch him. At UFC 191, he schooled John Dodson, who was his biggest challenge in the division. Mighty Mouse was much better than his opponent.
Even if you are not a fan of the smaller weight classifications, you have to respect his skill level. Jose Aldo, Jon Jones, Chris Weidman and others are great fighters. They just are not the best pound-for-pound. That's Johnson. This win clinched that label for him.
There are certainly negatives surrounding Johnson as the champion, and that's unfortunate. Regardless, he's "The Man."
Loser: The UFC
9 of 9
I hesitated calling Demetrious Johnson a loser following a clean, dominant performance that solidified his standing as the best fighter in the world. You just simply cannot do that to the guy. He's worked too hard to become the best technically proficient fighter in the game.
However, the UFC loses because of the result.
Johnson has never proved to be a draw. The UFC put his perfection on display on Fox, and ratings never soared. He has headlined PPV events, and in both instances fans walked out either before or during his fight.
What can the UFC do to sell another title fight with no interesting challenger waiting in the wings? The UFC is in a terrible position.
Does the company utilize Johnson as a future co-main event? He hasn't shown to add any value to the fight cards he has been on. Fans seemingly don't care about his brilliance.
Could he defend his title on a Fox Sports 1 Fight Night event? Perhaps. Or maybe the best plan is to give European fans a title defense with Johnson headlining a Fight Pass card.
It's sad we cannot say the best fighter is also the biggest draw or even a draw at all.
The UFC has a champion whom fans do not care about and will not pay to see, yet Dana White and company have to continue to promote him as a featured fighter on future cards. That's not good.
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