UFC on FOX 6 took place on Saturday night at the United Center in Chicago and Demetrious Johnson successfully defended the UFC flyweight title when he defeated John Dodson by unanimous decision in his first title defense.
The fight was promoted as a high pace fight and that is exactly what the fight was. Both fighters pushed the pace for all five rounds, but Johnson was able to maintain his speed throughout the fight and won on all of the judges scorecards with the scores being 48-47, 49-46 and 48-47.
Dodson’s best rounds of the fight were the first and second round. He was able to connect with his punches and drop Johnson on multiple occasions. When he landed a punch that dropped Johnson, he would not be able to capitalize on the opportunity as Johnson was able to immediately get back to his feet.
From the start of the third round and until the final bell sounded, Johnson was able to control the fight. He would land a takedown in each of the final three rounds and would wear down Dodson. In the final round, Johnson was looking for the finish and was landing multiple knees in the clinch. Dodson would be able to survive the knees and may it to the final bell.
The only controversial moment of the fight came in the fourth round when Johnson landed an illegal knee to the head when Dodson had his hand on the ground. Referee John McCarthy could have taken a point away, but he did not. If he would have taken a point away, the fight would have ended up as a majority draw.
Johnson (17-2-1) has now won three in a row and his next title defense has not been determined at this time. His next opponent could be decided next weekend at UFC 156 when Joseph Benavidez faces Ian McCall.
In the co-main event of the fight card, Glover Teixeira scored the biggest win of his career with a decision win over former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. He was able to control the fight on the feet and on the ground. Two of the three judges gave all three rounds to Teixeira and the other judge gave one round to Jackson.
In the first round, Teixeira was able to use his striking to land a takedown and get the back of Jackson. He looked for a submission, but was unable to lock anything in. He would land a left hand later in the round that appeared to hurt Jackson, but Rampage was able to survive and make it to the second round.
During the second round, Jackson appeared to be getting tired and began to drop his hands and trash talk to engage Teixeira in a brawl. However, he would not fall into the trap and continued to work his game plan. In the final round, Jackson appeared to have found some energy. The energy would be short lived and the fight would go the distance with Teixeira (20-2) winning his 18th fight in a row.
This was the last fight on the UFC contract for Jackson and this was likely the last time he will appear in the UFC cage. UFC President Dana White said on the post fight show on FUEL TV that the organization will have the right to match any contract offer that Jackson receives.
The main card also saw two fighters emerge as title contenders as Anthony Pettis handed Donald Cerrone his first defeat by TKO in a lightweight bout and Ricardo Lamas stopped Erik Koch by TKO in the second round in a featherweight bout.
Pettis was able to land a body kick that dropped Cerrone in the first round and finished the fight with strikes on the ground. This is the third straight win for Pettis (16-2) and his last two wins have come by TKO/KO. During the post fight press conference, he stated that if he is guaranteed a title shot, he will wait for the fight and not take another fight.
Lamas (13-2) won his fourth straight fight by handing Koch his first knockout defeat in his career and may be the next title contender in the UFC featherweight division. He was able to finish the fight in the second round after he opened up a cut on the face of Koch. After the fight was over, he stated he will be at UFC 156 next week and would like to face the winner of the title fight between Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar.
The complete UFC on FOX 6 results are below:
Main Card: (FOX)
Demetrious Johnson def. John Dodson via unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 48-47)
Glover Teixeira def. Quinton Jackson via unanimous decision (30-37, 30-27, 29-28)
Anthony Pettis def. Donald Cerrone via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 2:35
Ricardo Lamas def. Erik Koch via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:32
Preliminary Card: (FX)
TJ Grant def. Matt Wiman via KO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:51
Clay Guida def. Hatsu Hioki via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
Pascal Krauss def. Mike Stumpf via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Ryan Bader def. Vladimir Matyushenko by submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, :50
Shawn Jordan def. Mike Russow via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 3:48
Rafael Natal def. Sean Spencer via submission (arm triangle) – Round 3, 2:13
Preliminary Card: (Facebook)
David Mitchell def. Simeon Thoresen via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)