John Dodson Explains What Led to the Cancellation of His Fight Against Pedro Munhoz
The co-main event for Saturday night's UFC Fight Night 125 card in Belem, Brazil, between John Dodson and Pedro Munhoz has been scrapped.
Munhoz didn't make weight on Friday coming in at 140 pounds — four pounds over the bantamweight limit for a non-title fight — and the match-up was eventually pulled from the card.
Dodson believes Munhoz may have come in slightly higher than the 140 pounds that was recorded, but even that much weight forced him to reconsider taking the fight.
“He came in five pounds over weight,” Dodson explained when speaking from Brazil. “Originally, they told me he was three pounds [over] and I gave him the benefit of the doubt and said, oh, he's 139? They said he's more like 140-point-something. I'm guessing he's in the ballpark figure around 141.
“He's not bantamweight now, he's a featherweight, first. Second, I made all the sacrifices and did my job to make weight and he chose not to.”
Dodson dealt with a similar situation when he faced John Lineker last year when the Brazilian came in over weight for their bantamweight contest in Oregon. Dodson accepted the new catchweight affair, but ultimately came up short by split decision in the contest and he just wasn't willing to take on another opponent who couldn't step on the scale at the agreed upon weight for the fight.
“I did that with Lineker. Lineker came in over weight and I was being a good company man, I'm just going to go ahead and fight him, do what I have to do, and just be excited about being the main event,” Dodson explained. “Lineker came over heavy. I clearly outstruck the man, but I came away with a loss, and I got screwed, so I wasn't rolling the dice on that for a second time.”
Add to that, Dodson is currently on the final fight of his deal with the UFC, which means the result in this match-up could adversely affect his negotiating power when trying to ink a new contract with the promotion or any other potential suitors interested in signing him.
With the fight already scrapped, Dodson says he's definitely open to rebooking the match-up with Munhoz at a later date, with his manager Ricky Kottenstette confirming that there have been talks about moving the fight to UFC 222 in Las Vegas on March 3.
At this point, no decision has been made regarding the fight being moved to a later date, but Dodson is open to the possibility.
As far as his pay goes, Dodson hasn't been told yet if the UFC will hand him at least his show money for the fight, considering he made weight and it was his opponent who came in so far over the bantamweight limit.
Dodson's manager sounds confident the UFC will take care of the former “Ultimate Fighter” champion at the end of the day.
“Contractually, the UFC doesn't have to give us the show money, but we're confident they'll do the right thing,” Kottenstette said.
Dodson also issued a statement directly to the fans who were anxious to see him perform on Saturday night, while promising that he will return to action sooner rather than later once the UFC finds a new card where he can fight.
“I'm so sorry this fight isn't going to happen,” Dodson said. “Hopefully, we can get this rebooked so that he can actually make the 136 [pound] limit and we can actually duke it out for you guys sometime down the road. My apologies to every single one of you. I know it seems like a hard thing to swallow, but I'm deeply and truly sorry that you don't get to see me perform and I'm heartbroken myself that I don't get to go ahead and do what I love.”
