Tomorrow night’s co-main event at UFC 152 will be a five round fight and the winner will become the first ever flyweight champion as Joseph Benavidez (16-2) meets Demetrious Johnson (15-2-1).
Both fighters are former bantamweight title contenders and were two of the four fighters selected to be in the flyweight tournament to decide who will be the first flyweight champion in the UFC.
Benavidez defeated Yasuhiro Urushitani by TKO in the second round in the semifinals of the tournament at UFC on FX 2 and Johnson needed two fights to make his way to the finals.
His semifinal fight with Ian McCall took place at UFC on FX 2, but the first fight ended in a majority draw. They had their rematch at UFC on FX 3 and Johnson scored a unanimous decision victory.
Benavidez enters this fight on a four fight winning streak and 12 of his 16 wins have come by either submission or knockout. The only fighter to defeat him in his career is current bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz and both losses were by decision.
Both of Johnson’s career losses have come in WEC/UFC with the defeats coming against Brad Pickett and Cruz. He is 5-1-1 in his last seven fights and four of those wins were by decision.
This fight will be high paced and is a likely favorite to end up winning the fight of the night bonus. Benavidez is a favorite on the betting odds (-255) and is more likely to get a stoppaage victory if the fight doesn’t last all five rounds. Both fighters are well rounded and there is no question that they are the best flyweight fighters in the world.
TheMMAReport.com prediction a five round fight that will be high pace and see back and fourth action. We predict that Benavidez will do enough to get a decision victory, but would not be surprised if Johnson is able to get the victory.