UFC 191 Notebook: A ‘Mighty’ Task

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No one will ever question John Dodson’s self-confidence.

Dodson will challenge Demetrious Johnson for the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight crown for a second time when the two rivals collide atop UFC 191 on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Johnson took a unanimous decision from “The Magician” at UFC on Fox 6 in 2013, and Dodson admits vengeance plays an active role in his motivation.

“It does flip the switch in the top of my dome because I know I have to go out there and perform -- and not just perform,” he told Sherdog.com. “I have to do it in a manner that’s going to punish Demetrious Johnson for ever believing he had a chance against me.”

Dodson was credited with a second-round knockdown on “Mighty Mouse” and retains the belief that he was the superior fighter the first time the two met.

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“That first fight me and him fought, I won and he knows it,” he said. “That’s why he didn’t want to fight me this time. This time, I’m going out there to go finish. Everyone’s been sitting there flapping their mouths off, saying Demetrious Johnson is going to be the more dominant fighter because he has never lost a rematch fight. If you want to look at my history, as well, I’ve never lost one, either. I’ve destroyed the guy and made sure I obliterated him and made sure I looked awesome and amazing and did wonderful things.”

Since his failed bid to unseat Johnson, Dodson has undergone reconstructive knee surgery and rattled off victories against Darrell Montague, John Moraga and former Bellator MMA champion Zach Makovsky. Only Makovsky made it to the final bell. Johnson, meanwhile, will enter the cage on an eight-fight winning streak, having cemented his place as one of MMA’s pound-for-pound best.

“I don’t feel threatened by anything Demetrious Johnson does, but he has put on this illusion that he is such a tremendous wrestler and has this fancy footwork he can do,” Dodson said. “I’m going to annihilate it by putting [on] that pressure that I have been doing, and I can go ahead and control this fight. I’m going to win.”

RENAISSANCE MAN

Andrei Arlovski has turned back the clock.

The resurgent Belarusian will put his five-fight winning streak on the line in the co-main event against fellow former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir. Arlovski has delivered consecutive first-round knockouts against Antonio Silva and Travis Browne, thrusting himself back into title contention -- a development that seemed unthinkable not all that long ago. Mir has also become a feel-good story within the heavyweight division and last appeared under the UFC Fight Night marquee in July, when he cut down Todd Duffee with punches in just 73 seconds.

“I knew he was very dangerous on the ground, but now I know for a fact that he’s very dangerous on the feet,” Arlovski said. “I guess he’s in love with boxing. It’s going to be interesting fight.”

Rumors of former Pride Fighting Championships titleholder Fedor Emelianenko joining the UFC have reached Arlovski’s ears. The 36-year-old was victimized by the Russian icon more than six years ago and revealed he would covet a second crack at Emelianenko more than a shot at UFC gold.

“It’s unfinished business with him,” Arlovski said, “and I’m not going to give him that present that I gave him back in 2009.”

THIS & THAT

UFC 191 “Johnson vs. Dodson 2” will be the 333rd event the Ultimate Fighting Championship has staged in its history ... Johnson has recorded nine wins via tapout: three by armbar, three by rear-naked choke and one each by kimura, keylock and guillotine choke ... Mir can become the fourth fighter in UFC history with at least 17 victories inside the Octagon, joining Georges St. Pierre, Matt Hughes and Michael Bisping ... Blackzilians brute Anthony Johnson has never lost back-to-back fights as a professional ... Jan Blachowicz is one of four fighters to have held the KSW light heavyweight championship. Mamed Khalidov, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Goran Reljic are the others ... Alliance MMA’s Ross Pearson is the last remaining cast member from Season 9 of “The Ultimate Fighter” still under contract with the UFC ... When Clay Collard was born on March 10, 1993, the top five movies at the domestic box office were “Falling Down,” “Groundhog Day,” “The Crying Game,” “Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey” and “Mad Dog and Glory” ... Former Jungle Fight champion John Lineker missed weight four times in eight appearances at 125 pounds before being forced to move to the bantamweight division ... Jessica Andrade has never fought in Las Vegas ... When onetime World Extreme Cagefighting titleholder Joe Riggs climbs into the cage at UFC 191, nine years and 19 days will have passed since his most recent victory inside the Octagon -- a triangle choke submission on Jason Von Flue at UFC Fight Night 6 on Aug. 17, 2006 ... Promotional newcomer Nazareno Malegarie has secured six of his 15 submissions in less than a minute ... The 22 fighters on the UFC 191 roster own a cumulative record of 345-108-3.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

Team Alpha Male’s Paige VanZant has out-landed her two UFC opponents -- Kailin Curran and Felice Herrig -- 366-106 in the total strikes department, per FightMetric.

INSIDE THE VENUE

The MGM Grand Garden Arena has hosted more Ultimate Fighting Championship events than any other venue. Its relationship with the organization began with UFC 34 on Nov. 2, 2001. “High Voltage” was headlined by a heavyweight title bout pitting Randy Couture against Pedro Rizzo and a welterweight championship match pairing Carlos Newton with Matt Hughes.