Another bout has been added to the pay-per-view event headlined by Conor McGregor and Rafael dos Anjos. A rematch between #5 ranked Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson and #8 ranked Michael “The Menace” Johnson will compliment an already spectacular card. Ferguson is currently riding a seven-fight winning streak, meanwhile, Johnson has currently lost his last two bouts.

The first time these two men fought was in 2012, when Michael Johnson won via unanimous decision. The last man to defeat Ferguson inside the octagon is Johnson, but a lot has changed for both fighters in their careers since then. When they step into the Octagon, they will both be two immensely improved mixed martial artists.

It seemed that Ferguson was going to be lined up to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov, the man he was originally booked to fight until his opponent was forced out of the bout due to an injury. At first glance, this seems like a setback for Ferguson because of the current impressive winning streak he is currently on, but he has noted that he didn’t want to wait until April for Nurmagomedov to be ready. He asked for a fight against Eddie Alvarez, who is now currently the #1 ranked lightweight after beating Anthony Pettis, but due to a foot injury, Alvarez sustained in his last fight and won’t be ready in time.

This is a big risk for both fighters for different reasons. For Ferguson, he is finally were he wants to be in his career, and with what looked like him being a fight away from a title shot, a win over Johnson in the deep lightweight division most likely doesn’t secure him with that title shot that he so badly desires.

With a loss to Johnson on March 5, it would halt all of the momentum he has had to getting his shot at the title and likely mean he would need a few more wins to get his name back in the title talks.

For Johnson, who has suffered two consecutive losses recently, with a controversial loss to Beneil Dariush and most recently being defeated as a big favorite against Nate Diaz, a loss to Ferguson it would become three in a row, which would put himself in a risky position that no fighter in the promotion wants to be in. Before those two losses, he had defeated Edson Barbosa and was ranked #4 with a four-fight winning streak and looking to set himself up for a title shot as well. Johnson is still a very dangerous opponent and will bring a lot to the table when the two meet at UFC 197.

UFC 197 Fight Card currently:
– Lightweight Championship Bout Rafael Dos Anjos vs. Conor Mcgregor
– Womens Bantamweight Championship Bout Holly Holm vs. Miesha Tate
– Corey Anderson vs. Tom Lawlor
– Erick Silva vs. Nordine Taleb
– Darren Elkins vs. Chas Kelly
– Jim Miller vs. Diego Sanchez
– Tony Ferguson vs. Michael Johnson

About The Author

Jake Schneider
Staff Writer

Jake Schneider is a student at the University of Rhode Island who is currently looking to pursue a double major in Communications and Journalism. He is an MMA fanatic who has been following the sport for years. He began to share his wealth of knowledge and opinions on the sport to many of his family members and friends as well as various MMA forums online. His love and passion for the sport has been able to make many people that are a part of his life fans of mixed martial arts as well. His insight of the sport both inside and outside of the cage is what makes his analysis on fights and individual fighters so well informed.