UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson

[INDYjon22]

Main Card

• Bantamweight Championship: Dominick Cruz vs. Demetrious Johnson
• Welterweight Bout: Charlie Brenneman vs. Anthony Johnson
• Heavyweight Bout: Stefan Struve vs. Pat Barry
• Lightweight Bout: Matt Wiman vs. Mac Danzig

Preliminary Card (Facebook)

• Lightweight Bout: Yves Edwards vs. Rafaello Oliveira
• Lightweight Bout: Shane Roller vs. T.J. Grant
• Lightweight Bout: Paul Sass vs. Michael Johnson
• Bantamweight Bout: Byron Bloodworth vs. Mike Easton
• Welterweight Bout: Josh Neer vs. Keith Wisniewski
• Bantamweight Bout: Walel Watson vs. Joseph Sandoval

Dominick Cruz defends his Bantamweight championship against the always scrappy Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson. Cruz is incredibly unorthodox with his striking and likes to move around a lot. He may have the best constant movement of any fighter currently in the UFC and because of that he tends to throw his opponents off. That said, Mighty Mouse is a tremendous wrestler and definitely has the tools to catch Cruz and hold him down. It should be an interesting game of cat and mouse. You can decide who plays what role.

Charlie Brennemen looks to continue his big winning ways by taking out heavy hitter Anthony Johnson. Johnson is a huge guy for Welter, I'd be shocked if he makes weight, so it won't be an easy task for Charlie to wrestle him to the mat. However, Charlie is the far superior wrestler, he should look for the takedown, Johnson is susceptible to the submission. If it stays standing I think Johnson is to heavy handed and will likely put Brennemen to sleep.

Struve vs. Berry may be the most awkward and hilarious fight in UFC history. Berry is a clown and if his fighting career doesn't pan out then he should look for a career in comedy. Struve is a giant, who always gets knocked out in really odd ways. Both guys need a win in a big way so I expect fireworks.

Matt Wiman is a bitch and I hope Mac Danzig knocks him the fuck out. Oh yeah, this is a rematch of their super controversial first fight when the ref stopped the fight because he thought Mac passed out in a choke. I will love nothing more then watching these two beat the shit out of each other.

The undercard doesn't really interest me besides Yves Edwards and, I guess, Michael Johnson. Edwards has been doing pretty good since he returned to the UFC and it'd be fun to see one of the original Lightweights win again. Johnson also struck me as a prick on TUF, but I did enjoy his fights. I'd like to see if he can get some sort of a streak going.

There should be some fun scraps on this card, if all else fails I think the championship fight will be great. I like Cruz and Mighty Mouse a lot and they both almost always come to throw down. Also, Struve vs. Berry should be an epic slugfest that ends in some crazy ass KO. That'll be great to watch.

 

[jmt225]

This is actually a pretty damn good card. Even some of those preliminary fights are worth watching.

Cruz vs. Mighty Mouse will be a very fun, fast paced, five round war. A lot of people aren't giving Mighty Mouse a chance, but I disagree with that completely. Cruz's takedown defense is great, but still... he's never had to deal with someone who is as small and fast with the wrestling credentials of Mighty Mouse. Plus, Johnson does a GREAT job of using his striking to set-up the takedown. I'd go as far to say that Mighty Mouse has the best takedowns in all of MMA.

Now, if Cruz is able to keep Johnson from taking him down, then of course Cruz should go on to win the battle on the feet. However, on the ground it's anyone's game. Mighty Mouse gets labeled as a lay and prayer, but meh... I don't think I agree with that. To me, a lay and prayer is someone who sits in somebody's guard and lays down pitter-patter punches... that's not what Mighty Mouse does. He looks to pass guard; it's just his last two fights were against great jiu-jitsu specialist, so Johnson was more defensive on the ground than he was progressive. Not his fault.

Anyways, the fight can go either way. It's a great main event for a free television event.

Charlie Brenneman vs. Anthony Johnson is another fight that can go either way, but my money is on Anthony Johnson. If Johnson's in shape, then he should have no problem in keeping Brenneman from taking him down and then kicking his ass on the feet. If Johnson isn't in shape though, then Brennenman just has to last past the first round and then he should be able to take rounds 2 and 3 with ease.

Stefan Struve vs. Pat Barry should be fucking hilarious/incredible. No prediction needs to be made... just sit back and enjoy.

I'm a Mac Danzig fan, so of course I'm looking forward to his fight with Matt Wiman. Their first fight ended early with Wiman taking control of the fight, but hopefully Danzig has an answer for him this time around and is able to finish the lay and prayer and get a little winning streak going for himself. It won't be easy, but he can do it.

And man... I really hope a few of these fights end early so they can air Yves Edwards vs. Rafaello Oliveira, because that's going to be a GREAT fucking fight, possibly the Fight of the Night.

 

[BananaSplitziffy]

Cruz vs DJ was the only fight I saw and it was great to see Cruz show a different style than normal. I love how GSP (and it looks like Cruz does it too now) fight where they are superior instead of where their opponents don't want the fight to go.

 

[Big Sexy]

It was nice to see Rumble Johnson get back to dominating. He was one of my favorite fighters and one of the best in the Welterweight division until his injuries started to pile up. Hopefully he stays healthy and starts moving back up the ranks.

 

[INDYjon22]

Wiman vs. Danzig was a terrific battle. I am not a huge fan of either guy but they came to fight last night and gave us one hell of a scrap. Danzig was the far superior technical striker but Wiman's looping shots could not be stopped. As much as I don't like Wiman he did do more to win the fight, but it honestly could have gone either way without much controversy.

Brenneman vs. Johnson kind of went how I expected it to go. Brenneman kept it standing to long and couldn't get the fight to the ground and sure enough Johnson's superior striking caught Charlie. Now, Brenneman could have continued fighting from that head kick, but I don't have a problem with the stoppage. I think Johnson would have reigned down hell on Charlie and knocked him clean out had the ref not stepped in.

The first round of Struve vs. Barry wasn't all that exciting, but was a pretty solid technical fight. Barry's kicks were awesome and when he started throwing head kicks and flying knees I got a big smile on my face just thinking about if one of those landed clean. Then the second round came and shit got real. That triangle Struve threw on was one sick mother, and I was sure Barry's powerbomb was going to KO Struve or at least break the choke. Great showing by Struve and toughness to keep that choke locked in. Sucks to see Barry lose, and probably get cut, but at least he went out with a bang. Barry and Struve are always in exciting fights.

The main event was a solid fight between Mighty Mouse and Cruz. I was honestly shocked to see that Johnson was faster then Cruz. I didn't like the fight all that much because Cruz just used his size advantage to hold Johnson down for most of the fight, but I won't complain either. Good win by Cruz, who has virtually cleaned out the division, he needs to fight Jose Aldo next as long as he gets through Florian, no doubt in my mind. Johnson will be a monster at 125.