Issue 128
May 2015
After nearly a year on the sidelines through injury, flyweight John Dodson insists he’s ready to shed his nice-guy image and show fans he’s the scariest fighter in the lighter weight classes
As the night air turns bitterly cold and the sky gradually fades to black, creating a dark cover over a once bright blue sky, the lights inside a block of houses in the suburbs of Albuquerque, New Mexico slowly begin to flick off.
One after the other, the once brightly-lit residences are now only illuminated by street lamps and overcast moonlight. Yet through the darkness, a tiny piece of light flickers from a television screen peeking through the curtain of a house on one corner.
Get a little closer and the muffled voices of Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg begin to fill the air. Their enthusiastic brand of commentary portrays blow-by-blow accounts of every strike landed by the athletes colliding in the Octagon. Sitting alone, silently, with his eyes moving at rapid speed to track the action inside the cage, is UFC 125lb’er John Dodson. His expression says it all. He’s not a happy man.
That trademark JD smile, which once so ably masked the killer instinct that helped him amass eight knockouts in his career – four of those in the UFC – is long gone. It’s been replaced with a fierce scowl as he watches Kyoji Horiguchi and Louis Gaudinot scrap inside the Octagon.
Sitting on his sofa, Dodson seems disgruntled and disappointed at his fellow flyweights. It’s not just the lack of entertainment he believes they bring to the cage that infuriates him, but the fact Horiguchi, the victor, has now surpassed the TUF 14 winner for a chance at the title – even though he’d previously stated he wasn’t ready.
“You know, Horiguchi already said he doesn’t want to fight for the belt. In my mind, he’s already lost the bout,” Dodson tells FO from his living room. “After his bout with Louis Gaudinot, he told the world he wasn’t ready to have a title shot because he wanted more experience before he fought for the belt.
“Then all of a sudden, they give him a fight for the championship. It’s annoying because I’ve been watching people who do not deserve to fight for the title more than I do, get their shot.”
Of course, it’s difficult to legitimately fight for any championship belt when you’ve been laid up for 11 months due to a torn ACL, something Dodson is all too conscious of. But despite facing the likes of current champions Demetrious Johnson and TJ Dillashaw during his 11-year career, ‘The Magician’ insists his lengthy stint on the sidelines has been the most difficult obstacle he’s ever had to overcome.
“Getting over this injury has been one of the most daunting tasks of my entire life. I’ve had to be so patient and calm while I’ve been waiting, and I’ve never had to wait for stuff in life. I’ve never had to sit out and watch while people fight for this long before. It’s really been a mental challenge if anything else.” he shrugs.
During the time away, however, Dodson has kept a close eye on the 125lb weight class. Although it’s provided many entertaining scraps over the last 12 months, Dodson believes his unique skill-set is the missing ingredient keeping the flyweight division from getting the credit it truly deserves.
“I’ve spent a lot of time breaking down fights and really trying to keep up with everything that’s going on in my division,” he says. “I’ve been listening to the things people have been saying and just seeing what’s happening. My division has been quiet, which is embarrassing. Guys like John Lineker haven’t been able to make weight and guys haven’t been fighting top contenders.
“Everyone wants to dodge a bullet and no one is doing anything with the division. Everyone is trying to be so respectful of the sport but they’re still not entertaining enough for the crowd. These guys want to be called ‘the best fighters in the world’ but they don’t realize that to do that they need to entertain the crowd – or just even be able to fight.”
He believes he’s the missing jigsaw piece. “I definitely feel as if I can add what’s been lacking. Right now, everyone is sitting around, which tells me the division needs a knockout artist and that’s the guy I am. I’ve been knocking out every single person I lay my hands on.”
One particular opponent whose chin Dodson plans on testing is current UFC flyweight champion Johnson. The two had a magnificent, back-and-forth, ‘Fight of the Year’ contender at UFC on Fox 6 in Chicago, Illinois, and JD believes he’s got unfinished business with DJ.
Dodson managed to land several heavy blows on the usually elusive belt-holder during the first two rounds, showing the powerful striking fans have come to expect from him since he won the 14th season of The Ultimate Fighter. However, Johnson roared back into the fight, winning the last three rounds decisively and retaining his strap.
Usually after such a close fight a rematch is somewhere on the cards, however, Johnson has shied away from the idea, claiming to prefer new challenges instead of rematching former foes. To say Dodson is irked by the champion’s reluctance to go at it a second time would be a monumental understatement.
“He’s scared to fight me because I’m the boogeyman of the division. I should change my nickname from ‘The Magician’ to ‘The Boogeyman’ because nobody wants to fight me,” Dodson says. “Demetrious Johnson definitely doesn’t want to fight me because he knows that the next time we fight I’m going to put my fist through his face and I’m not going to stop punching until the referee pulls me off. He knows I’m the biggest threat to him and that title. He’s trying to keep it as long as possible because he knows I can come and take it from him.
“Johnson loves to tell people that he wants to fight new opponents in the division, that he wants new challenges and wants to fight the best guys in the weight class. But technically I am the best person in the division.
“I’m the number one contender. I’m the one who’s been cleaning the division out one-by-one, while he’s sitting around telling people he wants new challenges. He’s telling people he wants to give Zach Makovsky a shot at the belt or he wants to give Jussier ‘Formiga’ a shot, even though I knocked him out.”
Dodson adds: “He’s given Ian McCall and Joseph Benavidez another shot but he’s not willing to give me one? Let’s be honest, the reason he doesn’t want to do it is because I’ll knock him out.It’ll be bad for him because he’ll have a concussion and it’ll be bad for his business too. Of course he doesn’t want to fight me”
Another former opponent who has drawn the ire of Dodson is current UFC bantamweight champ Dillashaw. The pair fought in the TUF 14 tournament final in 2011, when they competed for the six-figure contract and the right to be called ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’
Although Dillashaw looked impressive during his time on the show, the then relatively inexperienced fighter was cracked with a stinging left hook in the first round of their bout, which sent him face first onto the canvas before Dodson was able to follow up with vicious ground ‘n’ pound.
While Dodson has made no secret of his desire to fight for titles in more than one weight division, a rematch against Dillashaw has been put on the back burner. The champ claims Dodson would need to work his way up the packed bantamweight division before he’d be willing to give him a shot.
Just like Johnson, Dodson believes Dillashaw’s fear of stepping into the Octagon with him is there for everyone to see. He adds: “Dillashaw is just another guy on my hit list.
“I saw TJ after our fight at the TUF finale and I told him straight away I would give him an immediate rematch. He thought it was a fluke, Urijah Faber thought it was a fluke and so did the rest of Team Alpha Male. They were convinced he wasn’t actually hurt when the fight was stopped.
“However, if you watch the fight again you’ll see Herb Dean hold TJ back after he got knocked out. And that doesn’t make sense because if the knockout was a fluke why should I need to fight some more people? Shouldn’t you want to fight me and prove the knockout was a fluke?”
He adds: “I want to fight anyone. I’d fight at 145lb, I’d fight José Aldo or Conor McGregor. I don’t care who it is. Knowing my confidence I’m sure I could beat anyone.”
As the morning light creeps through the curtains in his window, Dodson is still wide awake and watching tape of those he feels have undeservedly taken his place atop the division.
Like the boogeyman children have come to fear, Dodson has become the silent and patient figure underneath the bed of the flyweight division, waiting for his chance to pounce on opponents who have forgotten him during his time away.
With most flyweights already scheduled to scrap during the summer, Dodson has been lined up opposite former Bellator bantamweight champ turned UFC flyweight contender Makovsky at UFC 187. While not initially on his personal hit list of opponents, Dodson is still determined to show ‘Fun Size’ no quarter. In his mind, this fight will serve as a warning for everyone at 125lb, 135lb and beyond.
“I promise you when I come back I’m coming back with vengeance,” Dodson says. “Zach Makovsky is going to feel all the anger and hatred I feel right now because I want to put that beautiful smile back on my face.”
