Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC 191 "Johnson vs. Dodson II"
Sep 9, 2015 - 12:20:19 PM HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC 191 "Johnson vs. Dodson II"

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

UFC 191 hit pay-per-view this past weekend; let's jump straight to the rundown.

UFC 191

GOOD: Paige VanZant submits Alex Chambers

VanZant was all over Chambers from the start, and didn't give her any room to breathe. It was a pretty thorough victory for VanZant, who's getting better and better. The ceiling seems to be pretty high for her, and it's exciting to think about where she'll be as a fighter in a few more years.


BAD: Jan Blachowicz vs. Corey Anderson

This was one of those fights where it sort of seemed like more was going on than actually was. Basically, Anderson would get the takedown and throw down some punches on Blachowicz for the entire round. He wasn't actually doing much damage, though, and Blackowicz was offering no resistance. You knew when the second round began that Anderson would win by decision, which he did. This was just a dull fight.


GOOD/BAD: Anthony "Rumble" Johnson stops Jimi Manuwa

The first round was incredibly dull, as Rumble decided to take Manuwa down and work that gameplan. In the second round, though, he blasted Manuwa and took him out in about thirty seconds or so. That's what everyone expected to happen in the first round. At least it happened eventually, though, but that first round was definitely a head-scratcher.


UGLY: Andrei Arlovski vs. Frank Mir

This was such a disappointing fight. Both guys were coming in off of multiple stoppages, yet in this fight they seemed content to play it as safe as possible. There was very little action in this fight and things just seemed so slow. I was expecting bigtime fireworks and they didn't even deliver sparklers. Arlovski won the decision, but neither guy gained much from this.


GOOD/BAD/UGLY: Demetrious Johnson vs. John Dodson

This fight encapsulated everything that's GOOD, BAD, and UGLY about Johnson. He dominated Dodson, and controlled everything about the fight. That's obviously the GOOD. The BAD comes from his conservative approach. He refused to press any advantages he had and was fine with coasting to the one-sided win. The UGLY is for the reaction he inspires in the fans watching, who showered this fight with lots of boos.

Johnson is one of the best fighters in the world. He's also one of the most frustrating. He possesses nearly unmatched talent, yet doesn't always put it to use. He's content to grind out decision wins when he could get the finish, or at least try. That's the thing that's frustrating about Johnson, there's too many times where he doesn't try for the finish.

Everyone gets it, these are elite athletes, the best of the best, you're not always going to get finishes. That's fine, the vast majority of fans don't have a problem with that. What they do have a problem with is when a guy doesn't try for the finish. There were numerous times during this fight when Johnson could have possibly gotten a finish, but instead he played it extremely conservative.
It's one thing to coast in the final minute of a five round fight when you know you have the decision wrapped up. You see that all the time in other sports. It's an entirely different thing to do that at the beginning of that fifth round, or in the fourth round, or the third, etc.

No one is asking Johnson to stand in front of his opponent and trade punches until someone gets knocked out, but we do want him to actively try to win rather than not lose.

Johnson is basically a slightly different version of what Georges St. Pierre was in the last several years of his career. That's damn good company to be in, though, so maybe Johnson shouldn't care? There's a few key differences between Johnson and GSP, though. For one, GSP had an army of Canadian fans rallying around him, Johnson doesn't have that. Two, GSP was known as a much more exciting fighter until Matt Serra caught him with a flash KO and made GSP overcompensate the other way. Three, Johnson is a flyweight. It's a sad truth, but size matters to a lot of fans.

However, if he wants to get into GSP's tax bracket, Johnson should care what the fans think. MMA is a sport, but it's also entertainment. If no one wants to pay to watch you fight, then you're missing out on a lot of money that could be coming your way. Johnson could still be getting all these wins, but by actively trying to win, he could get himself a lot of popularity, fans, and money as well. Sounds like a win-win there.


Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank