Just a week following UFC 276, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is back with UFC Fight Night: Dos Anjos Vs. Fiziev, being broadcasted live from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, on July 9th, 2022. The main card of this event begins at 9:00 pm EST and features 6 fights.
Leading off the main card:
Michael Johnson (21-17-0) Vs. Jamie Mullarkey (14-5-0)
Leading off the card we have the UFC veteran Michael Johnson taking on Jamie Mullarkey.
At a glance:
| Michael Johnson | Jamie Mullarkey |
Age | 36 | 27 |
Record | 21-17-0 | 14-5-0 |
Last 5 | 1-4-0 | 2-3-0 |
Most Impressive Wins | Dustin Poirier, Edson Barboza, Tony Ferguson | Devonte Smith, Khama Worthy |
KO Wins | 9 | 10 |
SUB Wins | 2 | 3 |
DEC Wins | 9 | 1 |
KO Losses | 2 | 3 |
SUB Losses | 9 | 0 |
DEC Losses | 6 | 2 |
Odds | -265 | +200 |
Recent History: Coming off of a loss at UFC 272, Jamie Mullarkey could use this potential win over a well established name like Michael Johnson. Not that Mullarkey is at any risk of losing his spot on the roster, however, as of now he has a 2-3-0 record in the UFC through his 3 year career. Through the duration of his UFC run, he has been challenged against top talent such as Jalin Turner and Brad Riddell. While Mullarkey fell short in both of these tests, he had flashes of talent in his KO power and explosiveness in his wins over Devonte Smith and Khama Worthy.
In Michael Johnson's last outing, he was returning from a 15 month layoff following a 4 fight losing streak to fight Alan Patrick, who was also coming off of a skid himself, losing his last 2 fights. In any event, Michael Johnson had a bounce back performance, defeating Alan Patrick by 2nd round KO (3:22).
The Verdict: Overall, I think this is a hard fight to predict because it isn't clear how much Michael Johnson has left in the tank. Right when most of us counted him out while on a 4 fight losing streak, he returns after a year lay off and performed very well. He looked sharp; as if he lost 5 years from his age. However, it should be noted that Patrick was 38 at the time of this loss to Johnson. While Johnson undoubtedly looked impressive for his age and inactivity in this outing, Mullarkey is approaching the prime of his career at 27 years old and has been fighting decent competition in his young career so far. While he is nowhere near a developed product, I believe he should have enough confidence in his power from his recent KO/TKOs to Smith and Worthy to inflict damage early to Michael Johnson. If Mullarkey's defensive ability can hold up to Johnson's explosive flurries and if he can avoid hard counters, I think this is Mullarkey's fight to win. I could see Mullarkey fighting a defensive round 1 and wearing on Johnson for a late KO/TKO.
The verdict is: Mullarkey (-265) by KO/TKO (+170) Round 3 (+1700)
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