johnson vs torres

[rocky mattioli]

very intriguing,competitive fight.....at 135.....torres will have a natural size advantage.....reach....i would think that he`s certainly better standing(if he can find johnson...a big if)....

but johnson is on a bit of a run...and after the pickett loss(a loss in which he was put on his back and out-wrestled consistently),he`s got an opponent here who,imo,is much slower...and not(from what i`ve seen) a great grappler...

my initial reaction was that,in spite of the yamamoto win,that torres would be a bit too much for johnson...but stylistically,this actually might be a nice match-up for johnson....we saw how much trouble a short,extremely quick grappler(benevides) can give a long,deliberate striker like torres.....

but is johnson on benavides` level?.....does he even have to be?....are these guys heading in opposite directions in their mma careers?

like the decision prop that vaughany mentioned(though my books haven`t posted anything on it yet).....and that`s a big reason why i might just lean johnson... better grappling...some top control coupled with crazy speed to stay out of danger when on their feet in a 3 round fight......particularly if i can get him at + money...

not written in stone at this point...open to opinions and suggestions...

thanks in advance for any and all comments agreeing or disagreeing...

[Ladle]

Gameplan-wise, I'm pretty confident that Torres is going to try to replicate what he did to Banuelos and Valencia: stay on the outside and don't get too far away from the jab; sprawl on any takedown attempts and then try to secure back mount for the choke. Of course, the big question here is whether or not Torres can stuff Johnson's shots. Personally, I'm dubious of whether he's quick enough to do so and wouldn't be surprised to see Torres on his back a lot. From there, it's a matter of how Torres' bottom game matches up with Johnson's top game. Can Torres tap him from guard? It's a definite possibility. Johnson's ground control looked somewhat flimsy against Yamamoto.

my initial reaction was that,in spite of the yamamoto win,that torres would be a bit too much for johnson...but stylistically,this actually might be a nice match-up for johnson....we saw how much trouble a short,extremely quick grappler(benevides) can give a long,deliberate striker like torres.....

but is johnson on benavides` level?.....does he even have to be?....are these guys heading in opposite directions in their mma careers?

I believe so. I might even favour Johnson over Benavidez in a fight on the basis that Johnson is a bit quicker and Benavidez is essentially a blown-up flyweight with meh stand-up.

[Pin2Win]

This should be an explosive fight, I love watching Torres fight... Torres loves to let his hands GO and he's accurate... but should be an exciting fight

[Vaughany]

Yeah number one candidate for FOTN for me

[omalley21]

I like Johnson by decision. He's a beast.

[sirchadwick1]

Johnson by DEC here too. I got him straight up at the +155 opening and feel pretty good with him at that price. Torres has stated that he's going to keep fighting carefully/conseratively to win and not for show anymore and I don't think that will work against Mighty Mouse. He'll apply the pressure and put him on his back eventually.... probably winning the the eyes of the judges regardless of the damage he takes.

[Pin2Win]

Yeah number one candidate for FOTN for me

These two lighter weight classes are going to be great candidates for the FOTN's, their so fun to watch because they have such a fast pace! It should also be an interesting TUF season with the feather weights or bantam (I can't remember which one it is for the next season)

[v1y]

Johnson by DEC here too. I got him straight up at the +155 opening and feel pretty good with him at that price. Torres has stated that he's going to keep fighting carefully/conseratively to win and not for show anymore and I don't think that will work against Mighty Mouse. He'll apply the pressure and put him on his back eventually.... probably winning the the eyes of the judges regardless of the damage he takes.

Dude... arb that shit.

Team Tristar is fighting to win. Torres is coming out with a gameplan to win this fight, and i'm confident he'll be able to deal with johnson's takedowns.

[bjpenn85]

Me to. I had johnsen to win before the damacio page match up. But the advantage should go to torres. Torres is to long, and he knows the takedown is coming, so what can johnsen do? Therefore i rather play torres. I havent heard one good argument to differ. Johnsen was even dominated the whole first round against nick pace.

[Mr.Kitty]

I like Torres in this one. Its true that Torres had trouble with quick and short Benavidez but that was a learning experience. After the Benazidez bout he started to learn wrestling. Dont forget that Torres is now training at Tristar gym under Firas Zahabi. He has worked on his wrestling for the past year, thats the big difference since he changed training camp because he had zero wrestling before. Training with GSP, Rory MacDonald etc. can only do good.
Will it be enough to stop Mighty Mouse takedowns? probably not, im sure he will be able to take it to the ground at some point during the fight. But then he have to worry about Torres excellent ground game, he has an aggressive guard and will go for submissions, sweeps etc. This will certaintly give Johnson more headaches then against Kid Yamamoto. Standing Torres has the reach advantage and his good at picking angles and using that reach. Furthermore, Torres has much more experience which might give him an edge in a close fight.

Have ppl forgot how dominant Torres was when he was the champ? the impressive run for Johnson is giving us a good price on Torres.