UFC 191 Preview
The UFC is back on pay-per-view and once again they have stacked the card with great fights that are important to their respective divisions.
The future of the strawweight division Paige VanZant takes on a veteran of women’s fighting in Alex Chambers.
Former title contender Anthony Johnson takes on Jimi Manuwa who will try to move further up the division rankings in a big light heavyweight fight.
Not to mention the undercard full of heavy hitters like Ross Pearson, Paul Felder, John Lineker, and Clay Collard.
As big and important as these fights are there are no bigger fights on this card than the main event and the co-main event where two former champions face-off and a championship is determined at polar opposites of the weight class spectrum.
The co-main event two former heavyweight champions will face-off as both are looking to continue their comeback bids.
Andrei Arlovski seemed to have fought his last UFC fight after winning the title and losing it only to leave for Affliction.
Then in 2014 he found his way back to the promotion where he met his biggest success and since then there has been no looking back.
He has won his first three fights since returning to the UFC and has looked impressive enough that he is quickly becoming a favourite to challenge for the title very soon.
He will take his three fight win streak to the next level though as he takes on another resurgent veteran in Frank Mir.
After four straight losses from 2012-2014 Mir seemed like his career might be coming to an end.
Then he began 2015 and began impressing with wins over Antonio Silva and a massive knockout against Todd Duffee that earned him a performance of the night bonus.
Mir and Arlovski are trying to extend their veteran careers and both seem ready to make another run at a title that both of them have held before.
The two former champions will get their chance to make a case for the title run as they face-off in what is sure to be an exciting heavyweight fight.
On the other end of the spectrum two of the lightest men’s fighters square off to determine the Flyweight title.
It will be a familiar fight as well with one of the most dominant champions in the UFC defends his belt against one of the toughest fighters he has ever faced.
Demetrious Johnson has run through the flyweight division and still has yet to lose in the weight class.
He is the fastest and most technical fighter in the division and some would even say that he is the fastest and most technical fighter in the UFC.
There are few fighters that have pressed him into a close fight as his abilities are that much ahead of every opponent.
That is every opponent except one as his first title defence after winning the Flyweight tournament remains his toughest fight in the flyweight division.
The man he fought was John Dodson and the fight was not an easy one for either fighter with Johnson coming out with a unanimous decision win in what was the Fight of the Night.
Now after stringing together three straight wins Dodson gets his second shot at the title as he hopes to push Johnson further than in their first fight and take the title.
The reason that Dodson pushed Johnson to the limit in their first fight was that Dodson’s style is built similarly to the champion.
If Johnson is the fastest fighter in the UFC then Dodson is a close second as he is the only fighter that has matched the speed of Johnson in the octagon.
What makes another big difference is the fact that Dodson has major power for the division and could be the strongest flyweight in the UFC.
He has knockout power with both hands and which is something that is rare in the lightest men’s weight class in the UFC.
That power gave Johnson some big problems in their first fight as Johnson was almost knocked out more than once.
Johnson showed his resilience in that fight and ended up with the win due to his technical boxing that scored more points in more rounds than Dodson.
Both fighters have only improved since their last fight as Dodson has become more technical and Johnson has become more well-rounded.
They will face off with both fighters getting their shots in as Johnson will likely try to beat Dodson in the stand-up although it might not be the smartest idea.
Dodson has the strength to end the fight quickly and now has the technical aspects to his stand-up that can make it tougher for the champion.
Johnson’s best bet might be to take the fight to the ground where Dodson is good but not better than the champion.
Either way this fight seems to be set to go the distance with plenty of close calls and once again Johnson will walk away with the title but definitely worse for the ware.
The Sport Addiction 