John Dodson clinches title shot at UFC on FX 5

By Case Keefer (contact)

Friday, Oct. 5, 2012 | 8:25 p.m.

Note: Full results from the preliminary card of UFC on FX 5 are available at the bottom of the page.

He got a running head start, scurried up the cage and landed a back flip.

John Dodson didn’t stop there. He did another gymnastics routine in the middle of the octagon and threw in a couple more celebratory gestures for good measure.

All of this came after nine minutes of combat that ended when Dodson scored a TKO victory over Jussier Formiga at 4:35 of the first round.

“He’s one tough opponent,” Dodson said immediately after the victory, spewing words as quickly as he tosses punches. “He was the No. 1 best in Brazil. He’s been the No. 1 in the flyweight division for a long time.”

Dodson will now have the opportunity to prove he’s the world’s best flyweight. The win over Formiga on the main card of UFC on FX 5 Friday night in Minneapolis made Dodson the 125-pound division’s top contender.

Dodson will face inaugural champion Demetrious Johnson for the belt, likely sometime early next year. Johnson and Dodson are the two fastest fighters in the UFC.

“It’s going to be like lightning,” Dodson teased. “You guys have DVR? Please rewind it and watch in slow motion.”

Dodson has won all three of his fights in the UFC, including an upset victory over T.J. Dillashaw to win the 14th season of “The Ultimate Fighter” last year.

The headliner of Friday’s event, Travis Browne, suffered the first loss of his career. Browne appeared to injure his leg in the opening minute and couldn’t move as well.

Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva took advantage by landing a combination punctuated by an uppercut and right hand that knocked out Browne at 3:27 of the first round in their heavyweight affair.

“I’ve been training for two months for this fight,” an ecstatic Silva said. “In my last fight with Cain Velasquez, I lost too fast.”

The co-main event between local welterweight Jay Hieron and Jake Ellenberger was the only bout on the main card to go the distance. Ellenberger avenged the first loss of his career by serving as the aggressor throughout the fight.

He took Hieron down multiple times and rocked him with an uppercut to earn a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28). Ellenberger got back on the winning track and has now notched seven victories in his eight fights to re-emerge as a force in the 170-pound title picture.

Read below for the rest of the results from UFC on FX 5.

Justin Edwards beat Josh Neer by submission (guillotine choke) 45 seconds into the first round of their welterweight bout.

Michael Johnson notched the second comeback knockout victory of the card in a lightweight affair with Danny Castillo. Johnson knocked out Castillo at 1:06 of the second round with a short uppercut.

Aaron Simpson dropped Mike Pierce in the first round of their welterweight meeting, but he was the one who fell to the mat in the second round. Pierce overcame early adversity to knock out Simpson 29 seconds into the second round.

Marcus LeVesseur won a controversial split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) over Carlo Prater in a lightweight contest. LeVesseur controlled the fight with his wrestling, but Prater came closer to finishing with multiple submission attempts.

Lightweight Jacob Volkmann captured the first stoppage victory in his UFC career. Volkmann submitted Shane Roller at 2:38 of the first round.

Bart Palaszewski defeated Diego Nunes in a featherweight bout by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

Darren Uyenoyama submitted Phil Harris with a rear-naked choke at 3:38 of the second round in their flyweight bout.

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or case.keefer@lasvegassun.com. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.