John Dodson will be fighting Demetrious Johnson at UFC on Fox. When we got to speak to him, he had no official confirmation of the date as multiple cards were on the table. About four hours after the interview it was announced via twitter that he would be main eventing the UFC on Fox card.

How’s it going today?
Things are going great. I’m enjoying life and I can’t wait to fight Demetrious Johnson. Until then, all I can do is keep in on training and teaching.

You are currently on tap to fight Demetrious Johnson at a date to be determined for the UFC flyweight title. I know last week, you stated on Inside MMA you didn’t have a date yet, still no date for the fight?
Na-uh.

Is that frustrating knowing you have an opponent, but don’t have a date for the fight?
No. At least now I have a face so I can imagine who I am beating up.

The UFC announced some dates for some cards for early in 2013, with UFC on Fox returning here to Chicago and then the weekend after UFC 156 in Las Vegas. Given a choice between fighting as the main event on the Fox card or the main event of the PPV which would you prefer?
Probably Fox because then you can get more fans into the UFC. Everyone wants to be on PPV, but they want to get a piece of that. I just want to get people to be more aware of flyweights and the fighting style of a flyweight. I want people to see the technique that a flyweight brings. People complain about us not being able to knock people out, but I am trying to prove everyone wrong about that.

You are going out there and showing that flyweights do have knockout power. What do you attribute to the fact that you are one of the more successful at getting the finishes in the flyweight division?
Mike Winkeljohn. Him and Greg Jackson are the guys that are having me believe in my knockout power. For the longest time I didn’t believe in hitting people as hard as I could, it was more about the pitter pat motion. I always thought speed kills. Then I got some losses on my record and apparently you can’t always get the win off of points.

There was an interview with Demetrious before it was announced you would be fighting him and he stated he had hoped you would get the next shot so you two could put on the “fastest paced mma fight ever”. Looking at his fights, how much do you think he is going to have to keep up with you as I believe you are the faster of the two.
I think I am the only one who can keep up with him. Everyone has sat there and tried to follow him and chase him, but they have all failed at it. I think I can match his speed and it won’t be so much of a cat and mouse fight. I can’t say I am faster than him or he is faster than me, but we have seen each other, and we just want to see who really is the fastest out of the two of us.

So a 100 yard dash after the fight?
(laughs) Ask me that question later.

You also stated you have been studying him, what’s one thing that has impressed you about him since you started studying him as an opponent?
I’ve been studying film on him since he first had his first fight in the WEC. He’s been one of the guys I wanted to fight cause I saw myself as him. Me and him have a similar fighting style. We both like to use our angles but he likes to use a lot more takedowns than I will ever.

Do you think the wrestling aspect will come into the fight?
I guarantee both of us will be using every tool in our arsenal to get that win. Be it our wrestling, jiu jitsu or our striking. I will say it will be awesome if we were striking for twenty five minutes cause that would be close to 2500 punches thrown by each person.

The fight odds are out, you are a near 3-1 underdog. Do you even think about the betting lines at all?
Nope I don’t care. I have always been an underdog my entire life. I look at it as an honor and something I dealt with. I can’t look down at him for being the favorite. A lot of people didn’t think I was going to amount to anything.

Where can the fans find you at?
On twitter @johndodsonmma or on facebook.

Any sponsors or people you want to thank?
Hyabusa, Century MMA, all the people at Jackson-Winkeljohn martial arts, my brother Eric Dodson, my girlfriend Belle, my mom, my family, my teammates.

UFC on FX 5 took place at the Target Center in Minneapolis, MN on Friday, October 5th. The night of action was shown live on FX with the preliminary card on Fuel TV. The main event featured Travis Browne taking on Antonio Bigfoot Silva.

The bonuses were announced at the post-fight press conference. Michael Johnson, Justin Edwards, Diego Nunes and Bart Palaszewski all earned an extra $40,000 for their performances. Johnson earned the knockout of the night for his second round knockout over Danny Castillo, Edwards earned the submission of the night after choking Neer unconscious just 45 seconds into their bout and Nunes and Palaszewski battle a hard three-round exciting battle for the fight of the night.

Quick Results
Darren Uyenoyama defeated Phil Harris by rear naked choke at 3:38 of round two
Diego Nunes defeated Bart Palaszewski by unanimous decision 30-27, 29-28, 30-27
Jacob Volkmann defeated Shane Roller by guillotine choke at 2:38 of round one
Marcus Levesseur defeated Carlo Prater by split decision 28-29, 29-28, 29-28
Mike Pierce defeated Aaron Simpson by knockout at 0:29 of round two
Michael Johnson defeated Danny Castillo by knockout at 1:06 of round two
Justin Edwards defeated Josh Neer by guillotine choke at 0:45 of round one
John Dodson defeated Jussier Formiga by technical knockout at 4:35 of round two
Jake Ellenberger defeated Jay Hieron by unanimous decision 29-28, 29-28, 29-28
Antonio Silva defeated Travis Browne by technical knockout at 3:27 of round one

UFC on FX 5 weigh-ins took place at the Target Center in Minneapolis, MN.  All the main card fighters made weight, however Dennis Hallman never made it to the scale and was released from the organization.  Earlier in the day he notified Dana White of the issues, was given fluids and knew he would miss weight.  His bout with Thiago Tavares was pulled from the card, and both fighters were given their show and win money.  Hallman was then released from the organization and sent home immediately to deal with his issues.

Also of note, Bart Palaszewski missed weight on his first attempt, but cut the additional weight within the allotted one hour time extension.

The full weigh-in results are:

• Travis Browne (246) vs. Antonio Silva (266)
• Jake Ellenberger (170) vs. Jay Hieron (170)
• John Dodson (126) vs. Jussier Formiga (126)
• Josh Neer (171) vs. Justin Edwards (170)
• Yves Edwards (156) vs. Jeremy Stephens (156)
• Danny Castillo (156) vs. Michael Johnson (156)
• Shane Roller (156) vs. Jacob Volkmann (155)
• Diego Nunes (146) vs. Bart Palaszewski (146)
• Phil Harris (125) vs. Darren Uyenoyama (125)
• Marcus LeVesseur (156) vs. Carlo Prater (156)
• Mike Pierce (171) vs. Aaron Simpson (171)

It seems even when there is a lull before the storm with three major US based shows all happening this weekend, there still is plenty of news that happened in the mma world.  Today’s top stories include Dana White’s biggest regret, Rampage Jackson admits to trying to be cut from the UFC, Jacob Volkman goes off on the internet, the UFC cut a number of fighters and a fight at UFC on FX this weekend just became more important.  All this plus your history lesson for the day.

 

This week’s Ask MMARecap question is one that has been asked time and time again from fan to fan. And it has to do with how stacked one could make a card. The question is asked by Matt Hughes (no not the fighter) and he asks, “What type of lineup would you set up to try and make one of the most stacked fight cards in UFC history?”

So let’s start with the following assumptions for this ideal card. The card would take place at Cowboys Stadium in Texas as it seats over 100,000 fans. Let’s also assume that all fighters mentioned would be perfectly healthy and able to fight at the same time and that no one would be injured. Finally, let’s just deal with the main card of a pay-per-view and as such we can have a max of six fights on the card.

With that out of the way let’s start to figure out what we want to do. In an ideal situation you have a finish in the first fight. Preferably a knockout, but a gnarly submission is welcomed or an amazing back and forth fight. What we don’t want is a three round snooze fest. So to open the card I would put Dan Henderson versus Shogun Rua. The two had an epic battle already, and while their gas tanks dwindled by the end of the fifteen minutes, it was awesome. Only this time, I don’t see it ending by a decision and one of them getting the finish on the other.

Next up I would put a number one contender flyweight fight on the card. Why? Because these dudes can bring it. Ian McCall versus John Dodson. Hell yeah. That’s going to be fifteen minutes that looks like it is on fast forward the entire time. Sure we might not get a finish, but it will be exciting none-the-less.

The third fight I would want on this card is one that will likely have a lot of blood in it. Nothing screams fight of the night like a blood bath. So let’s put two guys in who like to throw and can also bleed a lot. Evan Dunham and Diego Sanchez come to mind here at lightweight. Just imagine what kind of carnage these two will bring inside the cage with 100,000+ fans cheering for them.

After that kind of blood bath, I want a solid striking fight but with fighters who aren’t afraid to go to the ground and with a potential title shot implication. In this scenario, I see Michael Bisping fighting Alan Belcher. Both fighters have amazing skills and the trash talk for this is likely to be amazing.

The co-main event would be a main event any other time, but due to the fact that heavyweights get top billing this fight is in the co-main slot. Anderson Silva versus Georges St-Pierre in a five-round-non-title catchweight of 178lb fight. There’s a lot to this fight and one that many have been wanting to see for a long time. Now I think is the time for this fight, and once you take out the title and make it a catchweight fight, it makes a lot of sense.

Finally in the main event we have Junior Dos Santos versus Alistair Overeem. By the time this fight happens, the build up will be intense. The two are no doubt going to slug it out and will cap off a night of action with a finish. This fight would also solidify Dos Santos as one of the best heavyweights of all time with multiple title defenses.

The UFC On FOX MIller Vs. Diaz weigh-ins took place today the IZOD center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Below are the full weigh-in results for the entire card, and all fights will take place as scheduled. All of the fighters made weight with the exception of John Lineker who has 2 hours to lose 1 pound in order to make the limit. UPDATE: Lineker waived the 2 hour limit, and has been fined $1,200.oo which will go to his opponent Louis Gaudinot.

The fights begin tomorrow on Fuel at 5pm Eastern, and the main card begins at 8 pm Eastern on Fox.

Lightweight bout:
Nate Diaz  156 lbs.
Jim Miller 156 lbs

Welterweight bout:
Josh Koscheck 170.5 lbs
Johny Hendricks 170.5 lbs

Middleweight bout:
Rousimar Palhares 186 lbs
Alan Belcher 186 lbs

Heavyweight bout:
Pat Barry 244 lbs
Lavar Johnson 253 lbs

Lightweight bout:
Tony Ferguson 154.5 lbs
Michael Johnson 156 lbs

Flyweight bout:
John Dodson 126 lbs
Tim Elliott 125 lbs

Welterweight bout:
John Hathaway 169 lbs
Pascal Krauss 169 lbs

Flyweight bout:
Louis Gaudinot 146 lbs
John Lineker 147 lbs *
*weighed in 1 pound over

Lightweight bout:
Danny Castillo 155 lbs
John Cholish 155.5 lbs

Featherweight bout:
Dennis Bermudez  145,5 lbs
Pablo Garza 145 lbs

Bantamweight bout:
Roland Delorme 135 lbs
Nick Denis 135 lbs

Middleweight bout:
Mike Massenzio 184 lbs
Karlos Vemola  185 lbs