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With Demetrious Johnson winning the UFC's inaugural Flyweight Title fight, Zuffa ushers in yet another champion in yet another lighter weight class. Whether the division can sell is one thing – but how deep is the division? How much work does the UFC need to do in order to make it more viable? Those are some questions we'll start answering today. Let's take a look at the top of the division and the up and comers.
THE CHAMP
Demetrious Johnson (16-2-1): The new Flyweight Champ has taken his lumps over the past couple of weeks from several MMA commentators for his "point fighting" style. He's probably also garnered an equal amount of praise for his ability to hit and not be hit. It seems to be a never-ending conversation in MMA circles when a fighter has success with an elusive style that doesn't lend itself to finishing fights. But the fact is that Johnson's record thus far is almost unimpeachable. With losses coming only to Dominick Cruz and Brad Pickett, two top-ten bantamweights, Johnson finds himself undefeated in his newfound weight class of 125 pounds, but will face a bevy of up-and-coming talent who will likely be able to test just how elusive "Mighty Mouse" can be, and for how long.
THE CONTENDERS
None at the moment – see the next section for the contender fight.
A STEP OR TWO AWAY
John Dodson (13-5): It was never in doubt when during Dodson's stint on The Ultimate Fighter that he had staying power in the UFC. The only question was how long it would be until the UFC went forward with the flyweight division, and whether Dodson would even need to fight at bantamweight once the series was over. One of the favorites to win the season, Dodson did just that with a quick and convincing knockout of Team Alpha Male product TJ Dillashaw. Now with a win over Tim Elliott under his belt, Dodson will face Jussier da Silva at UFC on FX 5 this weekend for a shot at the newly-crowned champion.
Jussier da Silva (14-1): Considering the fact that the flyweight division is less than a year old in the UFC, the situation opens up opportunities for fighters who have never fought under the Zuffa umbrella to climb the contender ranks quickly. Case in point: Jussier da Silva. Da Silva has never fought in the UFC, but stands to earn a title shot if he can get past John Dodson this weekend. Following a decision loss to Ian McCall last year, da Silva has won five straight fights with the last four coming by way of submission. He also holds wins over a couple of top 15 flyweights in Mamoru Yamaguchi and Shinichi Kojima. Da Silva reminds me a bit of Rani Yahya. He doesn't have the punching power of a Dodson, but he has decent takedowns and once he's on the ground, he is relentless in looking for submissions. This should prove an interesting matchup for Dodson, who is a good wrestler with knockout power. The question will be whether da Silva is able to get it to the floor, and if so, how well will Dodson's defensive grappling hold up? This should be an excellent fight that can go either way, and it's mind-blowing to me that the UFC has barely said word one about it. (Though it's not as if the promotion for this particular card is all that great either, but that's another story.) I think Dodson probably holds on for a decision win in this one, depending on whether he can tag da Silva enough on the feet to hurt him. Neither fighter has ever been stopped, though I wouldn't say that a finish is out of the question here. Either way, it's a fight you'll want to see.
UP AND COMERS
John Moraga (11-1): When Moraga made his UFC debut in the undercard of the fourth Fox card, it was his opponent, Ulysses Gomez, garnering praise and hype from Joe Rogan. Under four minutes after the fight started, Moraga had done the old "hot knife through butter" routine, and he ensured that he'd be the one receiving praise the next time he came to the cage. Moraga was able to use his wrestling background to keep the fight standing against the submission specialist Gomez, and it paid big dividends as he ended the fight with a brutal finishing sequence. Moraga was originally scheduled to face Ian McCall in his UFC debut, and that would be a great fight to schedule for them next.
Louis Gaudinot (6-2): Don't look now, but here's another prospect from season 14 of TUF that was ready to drop to flyweight. From what we saw out of Gaudinot in his flyweight debut against John Lineker, he could very well be legit. With the division being so young, it's hard to say one way or another at Gaudinot's level who should be ranked over whom, but it's not too big a stretch to imagine Gaudinot already in the top 15 or so. With his win over Lineker, he showed great resiliency in weathering a brutal assault with body punches and locking up a fight-ending guillotine that caused Lineker to lose consciousness, along with his 13-fight win streak. Another plus about the flyweight division is that we'll find out soon who belongs at the top. Gaudinot would make a good opponent for Tim Elliott, who was game in his late-replacement fight against Dodson, or you it wouldn't be out of the question to match him up with a guy like Chris Cariaso, who flies under the radar but is quietly very good.
Next week we'll tackle the rest of the flyweight division, which I grant you will not take long. The UFC only has 14 flyweights on the roster right now, but we'll look at whom they might bring in to bolster the ranks a bit as well.
Got something to say? Hit me up on Twitter – @shawnennis – or email me: ennistorch(at)gmail.com, or you can leave a comment below.
Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Ennistake/article_14574.shtml
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