At least one fighter will walk away from Friday's UFC on FX 5 event with a guaranteed title shot.
The winner of a main-card bout between "The Ultimate Fighter 14" winner John Dodson (13-5 MMA, 2-0 UFC) and Jussier Formiga (14-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will get the first shot at the recently awarded flyweight title.
UFC President Dana White today confirmed the plans with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
UFC on FX 5 takes at Target Center in Minneapolis. The night's main card airs on FX, and FUEL TV and Facebook carry the prelims.
The flyweight division, of course, recently got its first-ever champion. After the weight class was adopted earlier this year, the UFC hosted a four-man tournament. This past month at UFC 152, Demetrious Johnson topped Joseph Benavidez in the tournament final to become the UFC's inaugural flyweight titleholder.
He'll now meet the Formiga vs. Dodson winner, which many considered a likely title eliminator as soon as it was announced.
Formiga (who formerly went by Jussier da Silva before adopting his nickname as his last name) was a flyweight titleholder for Shooto Brazil and recently has competed in the U.S. for Tachi Palace Fights. His only career loss came at the hands of UFC flyweight-tournament participant Ian McCall. He's won five straight, four by submission.
Dodson, who won "TUF 14" as a bantamweight, returned to the flyweight division at UFC on FOX 3, where he outpointed Tim Elliott. It marked his fourth straight win and his sixth in his past seven fights.
Source: Title shot officially goes to UFC on FX 5's John Dodson-Jussier Formiga winner