UFC 187 Post-Mortem: In Flyweight Limbo

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Joseph Benavidez has a firm grasp on reality.

The Team Alpha Male ace ran his latest winning streak to three fights with a unanimous decision over John Moraga at UFC 187 “Johnson vs. Cormier” on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Despite his recent success and track record, Benavidez understands where he sits in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s flyweight pecking order. Two losses to reigning 125-pound champion and pound-for-pound mainstay Demetrious Johnson loom large.

“I’m a realist, so I know logically it doesn’t make sense for me to go for the title right away,” Benavidez said at the post-fight press conference. “I believe in my skill 100 percent, that I can go out there and beat Demetrious and give him the best fight, but I’m also not crazy. I lost to him twice. I know that’s not the way it works.”

Now 22-1 in non-title bouts, Benavidez steered clear of danger against Moraga on the feet, brought him to the mat in all three rounds and chipped away with effective and at times punishing ground-and-pound.

“I think I went out there and put on a great performance against a really tough guy in Moraga,” he said. “I’m not going to be here always screaming for title shot after title shot. I’m just focused on the things in front of me, like Moraga [and] whoever my next opponent might be.”

Benavidez made it known afterwards that he wants to remain as busy as possible while he waits for the pieces at the top of the division to fall into place.

“I’m training hard every day,” he said. “If I’m training, I’m fighting. I always put on an exciting fight, so I’m just ready to fight at least three times a year. That’s what I want to do, just be more active. It [had] been six months since I was in there.”

A winner in 10 of his past 12 bouts, Benavidez plans to be ready when the UFC calls his number again. The 30-year-old San Antonio native expects the next crack at Johnson to go to John Dodson -- a unanimous decision victor over former Bellator MMA champion Zach Makovsky at UFC 187.

“I’m not barking about a title shot,” Benavidez said. “It’s always a thought. It’s always the main goal, main focus. It always is, but it’s more of just putting your focus on the smaller things -- like same goal just different focuses, as far as like the fights in front of me, getting more fights, getting better, so I am ready for that opportunity when the major goal does present itself.”

‘COWBOY’ AND ‘THE BULL’

Donald Cerrone performed as expected against a short-notice opponent.

Cerrone put his eighth consecutive victory in the books at UFC 187, as he took care of Tristar Gym export John Makdessi with a second-round head kick. The echoing blow broke the Canadian’s jaw, resulted in an immediate stoppage and moved “Cowboy” one step closer to his intended target: UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. In wake of his latest conquest, Cerrone credited those closest to him.

“I’ve got a strong team,” he said. “My coaches are awesome. All the guys up at the ranch, we’ve really got a good thing going right now. I feel that’s what it is. We’ve got the secret to success right now -- and [it is] kind of letting me, letting ‘Cowboy’ be ‘Cowboy,’ I think is what my coaches are finally realizing.”

Makdessi, who had beaten Shane Campbell at UFC 186 on April 25, agreed to fill in for Khabib Nurmagomedov after the undefeated Dagestani grappler withdrew with a knee injury. Cerrone showered “The Bull” with respect.

“You’re in the UFC for a reason,” he said. “It’s not like he was standing on the corner [with a] ‘Will Fight for Food’ [sign]. He’s paved his way. I don’t want to come off arrogant and cocky, but taking a fight with ‘Cowboy’ on short notice, you’ve got to be mentally strong and ready to go, so my hat is off to the dude for coming in [and] being confident. Man, he stood right in the pocket and gave it hell.”

MISCELLANEOUS DEBRIS

Middleweight champion Chris Weidman became just the fourth fighter to finish Vitor Belfort inside one round, joining Anderson Silva, Alistair Overeem and Randy Couture. None of them did the job quicker than Weidman’s 2:57 ... The five men Daniel Cormier has defeated in the UFC -- Anthony Johnson, Dan Henderson, Patrick Cummins, Roy Nelson and Frank Mir -- own a cumulative 93-40 record ... Prior to coaxing a tapout from Josh Burkman with a third-round arm-triangle choke, South Korean judoka Dong Hyun Kim had not recorded a submission since he disposed of Mitsunori Tanimura under the Deep banner on May 24, 2006 ... Andrei Arlovski now ranks second among heavyweights in UFC history in knockouts landed with 10, per FightMetric. Only Junior dos Santos (12) has more ... All three of Uriah Hall’s losses inside the Octagon have come via split decision, as the two-time Ring of Combat champion has fallen to Rafael Natal, John Howard and Kelvin Gastelum ... Former M-1 Global lightweight titleholder Islam Makhachev has utilized an armbar, a triangle choke and a rear-naked choke in submitting his last three opponents.

ETC.

UFC 187 “Johnson vs. Cormier” drew a crowd of 12,615 to the MGM Grand Garden Arena for a $5,189,167 gate -- the largest such figure since UFC 168 ($6,238,793) on Dec. 28, 2013.

A LOOK AHEAD

Former World Extreme Cagefighting champion Carlos Condit on Saturday returns to the cage for the first time in more than a year, as he meets Thiago Alves in the UFC Fight Night “Condit vs. Alves” headliner at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Brazil. UFC Fight Pass (7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT) and Fox Sports 1 (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT) will carry the event.