UFC 186 Johnson vs. Horiguchi: 5 Reasons to Watch

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La Paix

Fuck this place
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Posted by E. Spencer Kyte


There have been myriad twists and turns in the road back to Montreal and UFC 186 this weekend, but with the fight card finally put together as it will appear on Saturday night, knock on wood.

The finished product may not be as packed with marquee fights as next month’s pay-per-view offering, but there are still some compelling stories, tremendous fighters and intriguing elements to UFC 186 that make it worth tuning in to see.

Need more convincing? You’ve come to the right place.

Here are 5 Reasons to Watch UFC 186: Johnson vs. Horiguchi.

The Mightiest of Them All

Demetrious Johnson might be the best overall fighter in the UFC today.

The first and only champion in the history of the flyweight division, “Mighty Mouse” has won seven straight and silenced the critics that said he never finishes fights by earning stoppages in three of his last four bouts. He has all the attributes you look for in an elite fighter: speed, power, and crisp technique with an ability to excel wherever the fight goes and the gas tank to push a torrid pace for 25 minutes.

He’s probably never going to be a massive star for the UFC because of his size and lack of interest in talking trash via the media, but that doesn’t diminish the fact that time he fights, Johnson delivers a master class on mixed martial arts.

What’s particularly interesting to note is that the 28-year-old Kirkland, Washington native seems to have reached a new level when it comes to trusting his talents and dominating overmatched competition. He absolutely dominated John Moraga, shut out Ali Bagautinov and made quick work of Chris Cariaso at UFC 178, taking the fight to the “deer-in-the-headlights” challenger.

This weekend’s challenger Kyoji Horiguchi has been hustled into a title shot a little sooner than most anticipated as a result of Johnson’s run of success since the division’s inception, and it could be another opportunity for the flyweight champion to showcase how far ahead of the competition he is in the 125-pound ranks.

Can We Really Count Out Underdog Challengers?

At this point, shouldn’t we have learned our lesson when it comes to dismissing the chances of the unheralded title challenger in these situations?

Last year, TJ Dillashaw was in a comparable position to Horiguchi, stepping in with a dominant champion in a fight many believed he was getting a little ahead of schedule and the Team Alpha Male member went out and blistered Renan Barao to claim the UFC bantamweight title.

More recently, both Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Rafael dos Anjos were expected to come up short in their respective title bouts at UFC 185, but instead, the duo delivered tandem beatings to Carla Esparza and Anthony Pettis, respectively, to win UFC gold.

Horiguchi has all the markings of a challenger that could easily be counted out – he’s only 24-years-old and has just four UFC wins to his credit, none of which came against Top 10 opponents. He’s facing a dominant champion that doesn’t have any discernible holes in his game and can beat you in numerous ways. He’s coming off a good-not-great win over a good-not-great opponent in Louis Gaudinot that doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in his chances against “Mighty Mouse.”

But that’s precisely why this fight is so compelling – we’ve seen this situation play out before and there have been several recent examples where just about everyone got it wrong.

Even if he doesn’t win the title, there is a good chance Horiguchi shows something that wasn’t previously there; that he elevates his game and shows that while winning the title may not have been in the cards this weekend, his number will be called again in the future and he deserves to be in the championship picture.



5 Reasons to Watch UFC 186: Johnson vs. Horiguchi | The Province
 

MahatmaPetey

Member
Feb 26, 2015
188
289
I love Mighty Mouse, but I'm poor and can't justify buying a ppv for one fight, especially when I don't see a real threat. Maybe Horiguchi is the one, but I haven't seen it in his UFC fights so far.
 

kneeblock

Drapetomaniac
Apr 18, 2015
12,435
23,026
Don't sleep on Horiguchi.

Johnson is one of the best fighters I've ever seen. Nearly invincible in how flawlessly he moves on the ground and standing. At 125, there are few who have a prayer. Horiguchi is probably destined for an L, but he's a game competitor and has some serious power to go along with his fairly diverse skillset.

Unfortunately, his training isn't great. He comes from Kid Yamamoto's gym so he's training with some killers every day, but he said in a recent Fightland documentary that he has no one to break down his game and find the holes so he probably will not have made the necessary adjustments to take apart a guy as skilled as DJ.

Still, Horiguchi, I predict, will be one to watch. He's beaten some decent competition in Japan and isn't a greenhorn despite his youth and relative newness to the UFC.

If nothing else, watching Mighty Mouse is an Anderson Silva like experience. We have to slough off our little man biases and enjoy him while we can.
 

SongExotic2

ATM 3 CHAMPION OF THE WORLD. #FREECAIN
First 100
Jan 16, 2015
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And don't get me wrong, I have a bar over the street from where I live that has the fights, so I'll see it, I just wouldn't drop that much money on it.

Maybe if the ufc had a 2 tier paperview system where some are 20 and big ones are 40. Or something. Right now it's too expensive to just subscribe blindly
 

domin8

Active Member
Apr 19, 2015
49
50
I can agree with everyone not wanting to pay $60, especially if the fight is ended quickly. What if I pay $60 and someone gets knocked out in the first round? It would be a waste of cash that I really don't have at the moment.
 

SongExotic2

ATM 3 CHAMPION OF THE WORLD. #FREECAIN
First 100
Jan 16, 2015
39,772
53,672
I can agree with everyone not wanting to pay $60, especially if the fight is ended quickly. What if I pay $60 and someone gets knocked out in the first round? It would be a waste of cash that I really don't have at the moment.
I'm still pissed over the weidman machida fight.

60 bucks I paid

Struve had a panic attack and couldn't fight

So it went to a 4 fight ppv.

One was Marcus brimmage iirc

The Co main was ronda which she finished faster than I can do a Bruce buffer impression.

Can't remember the other. What I do remember is I felt like I paid 60 bucks for round 4 and 5 of a title fight when lyoto put it to him
 

domin8

Active Member
Apr 19, 2015
49
50
I'm still pissed over the weidman machida fight.

60 bucks I paid

Struve had a panic attack and couldn't fight

So it went to a 4 fight ppv.

One was Marcus brimmage iirc

The Co main was ronda which she finished faster than I can do a Bruce buffer impression.

Can't remember the other. What I do remember is I felt like I paid 60 bucks for round 4 and 5 of a title fight when lyoto put it to him
Ronda Rousey makes quick work of her opponent's period! Love that chick but would definitely hate to fight her. She a bad bitch dude. Lol