UFC on FX 3: Demetrious Johnson v. Ian McCall

On Friday, June 8^th, the UFC will head to Sunrise, Florida, to try to complete the flyweight elimination tournament it began in March of this year, one  that featured four fighters considered by UFC matchmakers to be the best in the 125 pound weight class: Joseph Benavidez v. Yasuhiro Urushitani; Ian ‘Uncle Creepy’ McCall(11-2-1)  v. Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson (14-2-1).

Benavidez staked his claim to the title fight with a TKO win at .11 seconds of the second round. The McCall v. Demetrious fight, however, went the full three rounds and eventually ended in a draw after a judge noticed a miscount on what was first scored a win for Johnson. A tiebreaker round had been planned in the case of a draw, so that the title fight could be taking place now, but the miscount put the kibosh on that. Since this debacle, five round fights are the norm for bouts considered to be elimination fights.

The lighter weight classes get less respect than heavyweights or light heavyweights because your average, 5’11”, 195 pound redneck figures he could beat the crap out of a flyweight regardless of the talent level----which he couldn’t. The speed, energy level, and pace make flyweights  especially enjoyable to watch, and you have to admit the nicknames get more colourful, too.

No matter what people said publicly, most thought Johnson---who fights out of Parkland, Washington---would win their first fight easily, due to his speed and technique, but in their defense, a lot of UFC fans hadn’t seen more than a few clips of McCall’s fights. Johnson possesses solid technique and lots of power relative to the division; McCall is crafty, somewhat unorthodox, and was actually able to use that to outwrestle Johnson due to his own pace, a jaw-dropper for many fans, but not for those who knew the Newport Beach, California fighter and his abilities.

Johnson must have been bummed to get the W, only to get wind of the proper tally and discover the fight was a draw. Fighters at this level aren’t much affected by those mind games, though, so  expect this bout to be just as close and competitive as the last one.

If anyone has the advantage from the experiences of their last match, it’s Johnson: McCall has fought many relatively orthodox fighters like Johnson, whereas Johnson hasn’t fought anyone like McCall, so there will be fewer surprises for Mighty Mouse this time around.

Regardless, Uncle Creepy  will win this five round bout by overwhelming Mighty Mouse in the championship rounds, and will face Benavidez for the title sometime this fall.

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