Less buzz in the octagon
Demetrious Johnson has the skills but not the drawing power as UFC headliner.
Demetrious Johnson might be the most astute fighter on the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster. He’s dominant, too, with six consecutive successful flyweight title defenses.
Yet, that’s not drawing a crowd.
When Johnson ( 21- 2- 1) meets top- ranked contender John Dodson ( 18- 6) tonight at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the arena will be far less full than it was July 11, when a capacity crowd generated a record $ 7.1- million gate to watch brash Irishman Conor McGregor in an “interim” featherweight title fight.
“You would think” ticket sales would be greater, Johnson told The Times at a lunch in Los Angeles this week to promote the bout. “But this world thrives off drama and chaos, it just does. When you start diving into the technicalities, people . . . either like the fighter and his style or they don’t.”
Johnson’s multidimensional skills are impressive, but they tend to minimize drama inside the octagon.
Dodson is a southpaw striker whose six knockdowns rank second in the division’s short history, andit’s no secret he’s obsessing about another on Saturday.
Dodson became the first manto knock down Johnson in UFC competition, in the second round of their Jan. 26, 2013, meeting, but Johnson prevailed with a unanimous decision and a “fight of the night” bonus.
Headhunting “is all [ Dodson] knows how to do, a tiger can’t change his stripes,” Johnson said. “It’s not that he touches you and you crumble.”
So Johnson’s fight plan is to rely on his diverse skills that have earned the champion distinction as the UFC’s third- ranked pound-for-pound fighter and mainevent status on the Labor Dayweekend card.
“I’m going to shoot, jab, throw a cross, high kicks, some knees, work on the submission game,” Johnson said. “Youhave tomake your opponent feel that no matter what they’re doing, it’s wrong. If I shoot, and he defends my shot, he’s going to pay a price for it. If I get inthe clinch and you pull your head out, you’re going to pay a price.”
That type of detailed fight strategy, rare from a champion, might help sell a “UFC Fighting for Dummies” book, but it’s not boosting ticket sales.
Dodson seeks to liven things up, claiming Johnson “has a weak chin.”
“Hewas on his knees as if he was praying to God,” Dodson said of the 2013 knockdown. “Now, I’m going to rip the soul from his body. . . . He’s going to get put to sleep by me.”
The difference in the rematch, Dodson said, will be his new attention to strength and conditioning to address what he called Johnson’s “unrelenting” fighting style.
“I possess more knockout power than him and more flexibility,” Dodson said. “Now, I have the cardio to keep up. . . . I have someone in front of me who I’ve never wanted to beat up more.”
Johnson has 10 or more takedowns in three title fights and a division- best 56.3% striking success. He won via final- second armbar submission of Kyoji Horiguchi on April 25.
“I’d be naive thinking [ Dodson] hasn’t gotten better. But I have the skill set to make adjustments,” Johnson said.
Johnson expects Dodson to yap at him for as long as the fight lasts. He agrees with his training partner, who likens Dodson to an annoying, barking Chihuahua.
“When you finally kick the Chihuahua back to its porch, everyone in the neighborhood [ claps] and says, ‘ Thank you so much,’ ” Johnson said.