Fil-Am John Dodson moves back to bantamweight

MANILA, Philippines – Following another decision loss to UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson this past September, Filipino-American fighter John Dodson will return to the bantamweight division for his next Octagon outing.

Dodson (17-7) revealed his decision to move back to the 135-pound weight class on Thursday, October 8 (Manila time) during the broadcast of the weekly “UFC Tonight” news-magazine show.

It was reported that Dodson can still make the 125-pound limit, but it is a grueling task since IV rehydration is banned as the new USADA-mandated rules are implemented.

The 31-year-old native of Albuquerque, New Mexico fought as a bantamweight in the 14th season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality television series, where he defeated TJ Dillashaw, who is currently the promotion’s bantamweight kingpin, via first-round stoppage to get a six-figure contract with the UFC.

After his stellar victory over Dillashaw, Dodson transferred to flyweight and immediately scored wins against the division’s distinguished names such as Tim Elliott, Jussier da Silva, Darrell Montague, John Moraga and Zach Makovsky.

Dodson’s two losses as a flyweight came at the hands of Johnson, who easily carved out another convincing unanimous decision win over him in their rematch at UFC 191.

Answering questions from their first meeting in 2013 with a performance that left no doubt of his superiority, Johnson swept the scorecards with 49-46, 49-46 and 50-45 marks from the judges.

Dodson expressed that he would like to fight again in either late 2015 or early next year. – Rappler.com