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UFC 191 blog: Demetrious Johnson virtually untouched in win over John Dodson

Andrei Arlovski edges Frank Mir with unanimous decision

Updated Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015 | 10:19 p.m.

UFC 191 at MGM Grand

John Dodson goes down hard to the canvass with a throw down from Demetrious Johnson during the UFC 191 fight night at the MGM grand Garden Arena on Saturday, September 5, 2015. Launch slideshow »

UFC 191 Weigh-Ins at MGM Grand

Andrei Arlovski, the No. 4 UFC heavyweight contender, poses with silver fangs before the fans during the UFC 191 weigh ins at the MGM Grand Casino on Friday, September 4, 2015. Launch slideshow »

UFC 191 Media Day at MGM

Demetrious Johnson, the UFC flyweight champion, and opponent John Dodson, the No. 1 UFC flyweight contender, strike different poses during UFC 191 media day Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015, at MGM Grand. Launch slideshow »

Only one person appeared to leave MGM Grand Garden Arena happy after UFC 191.

Demetrious Johnson sauntered out of the octagon with his arms wrapped around his coaches and the flyweight championship belt wrapped around his waist. He invalidated John Dodson’s claims of superiority by outclassing the challenger with a unanimous-decision victory (50-45, 49-46, 49-46) in the main event.

“John Dodson was saying I’m garbage, boring and a plague to the division,” Johnson said afterward in the octagon. “But look at my face. I’m as pretty as a (expletive). That’s what technique does for you.”

No one else was smiling for the camera. Not the fans, most of whom exited the arena before the decision was announced and booed the fight.

Not Frank Mir, who protested his unanimous-decision loss (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) to Andrei Arlovski in a co-main event between heavyweight contenders. And not even Arlovski, who criticized his own performance in a close and slow-paced fight that saw both fighters gas out before the final bell.

“I’m disappointed that it went three rounds, but it’s a victory, it’s good,” Arlovski said. “I definitely underestimated him.”

Arlovski had outstruck the local former champion in the second round, but Mir arguably had the two biggest moments of the fight the rest of the way. He took Arlovski, a former champion himself, down in the second and applied ground and pound for the majority of the round.

Mir also dropped Arlovski with a right hand midway through the third round, though the former rallied back to land more shots.

“I thought I did what it took to win the fight,” Mir said. “I landed the shots. I did what it took; just look at his face.”

Arlovski had one minor cut before the end of the fight, similar to Dodson. But the challenger in the main event had no argument that he should have won.

Dodson came out strong with competitive frames in each of the first two rounds, but slowed from there while Johnson looked as fast as ever. Johnson won in every area of the fight, scoring takedowns and outstriking Dodson.

The two winners before Johnson and Arlovski also fit with the discontent theme. Anthony Johnson knocked out Jimi Manuwa 28 seconds into the second round, but instead of celebrating, he chastised the cageside media for recent coverage on his way out of the building.

The UFC punished Johnson during his training camp for verbally abusing a woman in his gym and throwing her yoga mat across the room when she came into his area. Johnson, who has a history of domestic abuse allegations, also went after the woman on social media.

“Don’t be a (expletive) about it,” Johnson yelled at the media. “Write a good report for once.”

Corey Anderson defeated Jan Blachowicz by unanimous decision (30-25, 29-26, 29-26) in another light heavyweight bout and seemed ecstatic about his victory, but he came out of the fight with a large problem. In his post-fight interview, Johnson reported he “crushed his teeth again” in the victory.

Paige VanZant may have put on the pay-per-view’s best performance, battering Alex Chambers in the first fight before finishing with an armbar at 1:01 of the first round. She mostly glowed over her performance, but was critical of herself for brawling instead of sticking to the game plan. It wasn’t until Johnson’s victory two hours later that someone gave a fully positive assessment of their performance.

Check below for the UFC 191 live blog, including preliminary results at the bottom of the page, and come back later for more coverage of the event.

Andrei Arlovski swiped the UFC heavyweight championship belt Frank Mir never got a chance to defend more than a decade ago.

Mir, perhaps the most accomplished fighter ever out of Las Vegas, and Arlovski, who’s from Belarus, were widely considered the world’s two best heavyweights in 2004. Fans never got a chance to find out who was superior, however, when Mir got into a nearly fatal motorcycle accident months after becoming the champion.

Arlovski won the interim title while Mir was out and the UFC eventually promoted him to champion. Eleven years later, the memory looms large at UFC 191.

Following unforeseen resurrections, Mir and Arlovski face off in the evening’s co-main event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena with significant championship implications on the line.

The 36-year-old Arlovski has won three consecutive fights since resigning with the UFC after six years in other promotions. Some felt he deserved the first title shot against new champion Fabricio Werdum, but the UFC opted to give Arlovski one last test of unfinished business.

Many figured Mir, who’s also 36, had retired after losing four straight fights from 2012-14. But he returned the octagon after a year off refreshed, knocking out both Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Todd Duffee in less than two minutes to start yet another climb up the ranks.

Mir and Arlovski aren’t the only ones with history at UFC 191. Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and John Dodson also go back, and are far less cordial about their rivalry.

Johnson narrowly outpointed Dodson in his first flyweight championship defense more than two years ago. He hasn’t stopped hearing Dodson’s name ever since as fans and the top contender alike have lobbied for a rematch.

Johnson preferred to fight new opponents, but could no longer deny the rematch when Dodson won a third straight fight this year upon returning from knee surgery.

Johnson wants to batter Dodson thoroughly enough to make sure there’s never any discussion of a trilogy. Dodson aims for the same goal, despite Johnson’s eight-fight winning streak almost surely entitling him to an immediate rematch in the event of a loss.

Anthony Johnson, fresh off of a light heavyweight title-fight loss to Daniel Cormier, falls in direct support of the two headlining bouts. Johnson meets striker Jimi Manuwa in the third fight on the pay-per-view card.

Rising star Paige VanZant opens the event in a women’s strawweight bout against Alex Chambers. VanZant is the biggest favorite on the main card at a price of 15-to-1 over Chambers.

The closest bout follows as light heavyweights Corey Anderson and Jan Blachowicz meet in a straight pick’ em. Mir and Arlovski is also tough to call by the odds as the latter is just a slight favorite.

Follow along with the Sun’s cageside round-by-round live blog of the main card, and check below for full results from the preliminary card.

Lightweights Ross Pearson and Paul Felder engaged in a captivating back-and-forth striking match for 15 minutes where both fighters had their moments. Ross Pearson picked up the split-decision victory (30-27, 27-30, 29-28) with the success of his counter-punching likely making the difference.

For 128 seconds, bantamweights John Lineker and Francisco Rivera shunned caution and stood toe-to-toe throwing punches at each other. Lineker was the one left standing, submitting Rivera with a guillotine choke at 2:08 of the first round after dropping him with heavy punches.

To the serenade of "Happy Birthday" from the crowd, Raquel Pennington got carried around the octagon after the biggest victory of her career. Pennington avenged a defeat from last year by submitting Jessica Andrade via rear-naked choke at 4:58 of the second round in a women's bantamweight bout she was losing before the finish.

In an extremely close featherweight affair, the judges sided with Tiago Trator over Clay Collard. Trator took home a split-decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) victory over Collard in a fight that truly could have gone either way.

It wasn't the way he wanted to win, but ultimately, Joe Riggs will take it. Riggs won via disqualification in the second round when Ron Stallings cut his eye with an illegal upkick.

Joaquim Silva defeated Nazerno Melagarie by split decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) in a lightweight bout between two close friends from "The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil" 4.

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

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