Two of the best flyweights on the planet clashed last night (Jan. 26, 2013) as champion Demetrious Johnson put his UFC Flyweight Title on the line against The Ultimate Fighter season 14 winner John Dodson in the main event of UFC on Fox 6 in Chicago, Illinois.
Dodson forced Johnson to fight through more adversity than he's ever experienced before in the opening few rounds, but what key factor allowed Johnson to not only come back, but take home a unanimous decision victory?
Early on, Dodson looked to purely counterstrike, trying to find that quick left hook counter to make Johnson think twice about being so aggressive and constantly moving forward. Dodson staggered the champion in the first frame, but neither fighter was really able to get anything going in the round.
Round two was where things got interesting as Johnson tried to turn it up a notch, but kept eating the big left hand from Dodson. He was wobbled at first, but then hurt again with the same blow about 30 seconds later and then knocked down with the left hook counter in the round.
Despite being hurt, Johnson continued to press the action, moving forward, occasionally mixing in takedown attempts and trying to land consistent punches while keeping his opponent on his heels.
Again, Dodson landed significant strikes while on his bicycle, but Johnson's strategy really began to pay off as the fight wore on.
By the fourth round, Dodson's pace began to slow, and Johnson found himself in a situation where he had the challenger stuck against the fence where he proceeded to knee him about 30 times either to the head, the shoulder or the body depending on whether or not Dodson could get his hand on the canvas while bent over or not.
With Dodson fading, Johnson really forced the issue in what was the deciding fifth and final round. "Mighty Mouse" repeatedly found himself in situations where he could put Dodson in the Thai plum and he really made those positions work for him, mixing in knees to the head and body of Dodson and controlling his opponent physically.
Dodson was too tired to really trade punches with Johnson by this point and was forced to clinch or shoot for takedowns, but he couldn't do anything effectively because his cardio was no longer there. With Dodson wearing down, Johnson poured it on, landing some heavy punches to go along with the knees in the Thai plum to take the round and the fight.
When it was all said and done, Johnson retained his title via unanimous decision and the fifth round decided the bout for two of the judges.
For complete UFC on Fox 6 results, including blow-by-blow, fight-by-fight coverage of the entire event as well as immediate post-fight reaction click here, here and here.
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