UFC Portland Headliner John Dodson Has Star Power
UFC Portland is headlined by dynamic bantamweight John “The Magician” Dodson, who has what it takes to become a future star.
Before making a run at the top of the UFC bantamweight division, John Dodson was a two time title challenger at the flyweight division where he took pound-for-pound king Demetrious Johnson the distance on two separate occasions.
The championship experience that “The Magician” earned during his time as a flyweight is something that cannot be taken away from him and something that will help him as his career progresses. It is something that his upcoming opponent, John Lineker, does not have. Championship experience neither makes nor breaks a fight, but it is an aspect that cannot be ignored.
John Dodson holds wins over a lot of notable names, including but not limited to: John Moraga (twice), Jussier Formiga, Manvel Gamburyan, current Titan FC champion Tim Elliott, and TJ Dillashaw.
John Dodson is not quite a one-of-a-kind fighter, but there are not many fighters like him. The Season 14 winner of The Ultimate Fighter is a ball of energy and tends to act like a kid on Christmas. However, once he steps foot into the Octagon, it is nothing but business.
He has some of the heaviest hands for his weight class paired with an incredible knowledge of boxing. Dodson’s wrestling is world class and he belong to one of the best gyms in all of MMA, Jackson-Wink MMA Academy. He is a five-foot three-inch southpaw ready to throw down with anyone willing to meet him in the cage.
Another piece to Dodson’s game that should not go unnoticed is the fact that he no longer has to cut down to 125 to fight. He’s fighting at a more comfortable weight now at 135-pounds. If Donald Cerrone and Dustin Poirier are any evidence that an easier weight cut leads to better fighting, and they certainly are, John Dodson will find a lot of success fighting at bantamweight instead of flyweight. Look at Dodson’s fight against Manvel Gamburyan, his first fight back at bantamweight. Dodson knocked him out in 37 seconds.
The only thing lacking from John Dodson’s game is his ability to sell a fight. This could change in the near future as the new UFC has been promoting a slew of younger fighters on their free cards recently. Couple that with having an event almost every weekend and you have no better time to be a fighter.
Look at the past couple of headliners on free events, Dustin Poirier vs. Michael Johnson, Yair Rodriguez vs. Alex Caceres, Michael McDonald vs. John Lineker, Thomas Almeida vs. Cody Garbrandt, to name a few. These are all relatively young fighters who don’t have the fan base of a Conor McGregor, Jon Jones, or even a Demetrious Johnson. The new group of UFC executives are looking for more people become one of the faces of the organization and there is no reason to believe of that would stop John Dodson from becoming one of those guys.
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John Dodson is just one of those guys that you find yourself rooting for. He’s one of the good guys. The Stipe Miocic’s and Daniel Cormier’s of the world. He’ll never be the heel or the Conor McGregor of the bantamweight division, but his fighting speaks for itself.
John “The Magician” Dodson has the potential to be one of the top guys in the bantamweight division. His patient style paired with his one-punch knockout power could make for an interesting challenge for Dominick Cruz.
This Saturday he looks to prove he belongs at the top when he takes on John Lineker. It will be a tough fight, but he has the tools to come out victorious. John Dodson could be the star of this division if he gets his hand raised tomorrow night in Portland.
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