John Dodson Explains Boos During Wineland Bout: ‘Everyone Hates Intelligent Fighting’

John Dodson emerged virtually unscathed from his clash with Eddie Wineland at UFC Fight Night 108 in Nashville, Tenn., on Saturday night.

Considering he was facing a larger, taller foe with proven knockout power, that was no small feat. Wineland spent much of the three-round contest swinging at air, as he landed just 15 percent of his 138 attempted significant strikes, according to FightMetric.com figures.

That was all part of the plan for Dodson. The only thing he expected that didn’t materialize was a finish.

“I wasn’t surprised at the fact that I was going to be faster than him. I just wanted to make sure I capitalized on the mistakes that he gave me. The opportunities I didn’t jump on, that’s my own fault,” Dodson said on Fox Sports 1. “I promised a knockout to a bunch of people, I spouted my mouth saying it wasn’t going to go the distance. Give him much credit. The man is a true veteran, a warrior of the sport. And he took me all the way.”

Those in attendance at the Bridgestone Arena didn’t necessarily appreciate Dodson’s approach, as they booed throughout the bantamweight contest.

“I wasn’t surprised. Everyone hates intelligent fighting,” Dodson said. “They all want us to be barbaric and be chickens locked in a cage with razors on our feet attacking each other. They want primal strategy. They forget that this is a competitive sport and most people need to go ahead and be a little bit more sober instead of being inebriated when they want to make those comments.”

The fact the Dodson was able to breeze past Wineland with relative ease means that the Jackson-Wink MMA product should be able to return to action in relatively short order. Since moving to bantamweight after a pair of failed 125-pound title bids against Demetrious Johnson, “The Magician” has won two of three bouts. The lone setback was a disputed split decision loss to John Lineker at UFC Fight Night 96 last October.

According to Dodson, finding a willing opponent is easier said than done.

“I want anybody that’s willing to say yes. Everyone in this division has been saying no…. like [Raphael] Assuncao, Aljamain Sterling, T.J. Dillashaw, Jimmie Rivera and everyone knows Bryan Caraway has said no to fighting me, like, 50 million times,” Dodson said in a post-fight quote provided by the UFC. “The big names in this division are constantly ducking me because they don’t want to get hit by someone who is faster than them.”