According to the USA Today Sports flyweight rankings, Chris Cariaso is listed as the No. 11 fighter in the division so at face value, it seems odds that he is getting a shot at the current champion Demetrious Johnson.
There is a reason for it.
While Cariaso has three straight wins, he had lost two fights before that, but UFC President Dana White said that they really had no other options to put in the Octagon against Johnson.
“The problem is that there is no doubt the fight everybody wanted to see would be John Dodson, but he’s hurt,” White told UFC.com. “Ian McCall just fought, Johnson knocked out (Joseph) Benavidez, and he beat John Moraga. People are going to bitch about Demetrious Johnson no matter who we put him in there against. Eventually, he’ll just have to keep knocking people out left and right, and then he’ll earn his respect.”
Johnson seems to preside over the division with an iron fist. He has six straight wins in the 125-pound class and has successfully defended his title four times.
The Dodson match-up is definitely the most intriguing, especially because the former Ultimate Fighter winner suffered a decision loss to Johnson in January 2013, but the No. 2 flyweight won’t be able to fight again until next year because of his recent knee surgery.
