Demetrious Johnson drew boos from the crowd in Montreal but closed out UFC 186 in stunning fashion, submitting Kyoji Horiguchi with literally just 1 second left on the clock in the final round. He’s one of the greatest fighters this sport has ever seen and he continues to look just about unbeatable at flyweight. In the PPV opener, Thomas Almeida added to his hype with a thorough whipping of veteran Yves Jabouin. The Brazilian remains undefeated and has finished all but one of his opponents.
For the final time this month it’s time to take a look at what’s in store for the main card fighters from last night’s UFC show in “Fights to Make”.
Demetrious Johnson. Another terrific performance by the champion, who is galaxies apart from the rest of his competition. He’s running out of challengers right now, so the winner of John Dodson/Zach Makovsky seems to be in the best spot to get the next crack at the belt. And with no offense intended towards Makovsky, I really hope it’s Dodson.
Kyoji Horiguchi. There was very little chance he was ever going to win the championship so you can’t really fault him for looking out of his depth after about round 2. I expect him to stick around for a long time in this division as a title contender, and I think he’ll face Neil Seery even though the Irishman coming off a win. (Ed. Note: This was a post-publish addition after erroneously admitting Horiguchi)
Quinton Jackson. He was only in the clear to fight on Saturday and nothing beyond that was guaranteed. For the sake of this piece we’ll pretend his next fight will be in the UFC. Rampage won’t be competing for titles so I expect his drawing power will be used for FOX or FS1 shows and not to bolster weak pay-per-views. I like Jackson vs. Ovince St. Preux in a five-round main event.
Fabio Maldonado. Hey, he got the dream match-up he wanted and lost as largely expected. It wasn’t a domination but there just wasn’t enough offense out of Maldonado to give him a real chance to win. I’m guessing he’ll continue to get booked in striker-friendly fights against opponents like Rafael Cavalcante.
Michael Bisping. Much credit needs to be given to Bisping for recovering from that late 1st round knockdown and using his very good striking, workrate, and takedown defense to beat Dollaway. As was suggested by the Brazilian himself, Thales Leites would be a nice match-up for “The Count”, who despite his own self belief is just flat out not going to be a title challenger. Option B is the winner of Gegard Mousasi/Costas Philippou, which is far more likely to headline a UFC event in Europe than Leites.
C.B. Dollaway. He had his chance to get the minor upset win but once the chance went begging, Bisping largely took over. Dollaway never had the better technique in his striking but he had the power advantage, and when the power didn’t put Bisping out then he really was in for a rough fight in rounds 2 and 3. He’s decidedly out of the top 10, likely for good, and he’ll probably get someone like Clint Hester next.
John Makdessi. It wasn’t the best of starts for “The Bull” but his powerful hands came through in a big way to get himself a much-needed victory. I’d love to see Makdessi take on Paul Felder when Felder heals up from his knee injury.
Shane Campbell. He got whacked big time in his UFC debut, albeit on short notice. After a solid opening minute or so with great leg kicks and utilizing his reach advantage, he folded like a deck chair once he tasted Makdessi’s power. Perhaps he’ll face Sam Stout in a “loser leaves town” type of match-up.
Thomas Almeida. Another finish for the highly talented Brazilian striker, and arguably his biggest win to date. Bantamweight is really lacking depth right now so he may very well just get pushed up to the upper echelon right away. In my ideal world, he fights John Lineker and we just sit back and enjoy the carnage. However, I can envision the UFC putting him up against a veteran like Eddie Wineland.
Yves Jabouin. It’s entirely possible that the 35-year-old Jabouin just gets cut. He’s got a losing record over his last 5 contests and was stopped in all of those defeats. If he stays on board I think he’ll face Vaughan Lee on a Fight Pass show.
About the author
