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Dodson still hoping for title shot despite tepid performance

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

John Dodson looked every bit like a rusty fighter coming off a long layoff at UFC 187 on Saturday night.

Dodson, who hadn't fought in more than a year after suffering a torn ACL, looked listless for long stretches of his bout with Zach Makovsky, and wasn't able to unleash his signature power over the 15-minute affair.

Instead, "The Magician" used a pair of slams and a variety of strikes to outpoint Makovsky in the second and third rounds en route to a unanimous decision victory.

"I'm not excited about my performance. I looked like a guy coming off a long layoff," Dodson said at the post-fight press conference, according to Sherdog.com's Tristen Critchfield. "I threw a lot of punches and tried to hit him as hard as I could. I just wasn't firing on all cylinders."

Despite his tepid performance, the relative dearth of credible challengers at flyweight may push Dodson back into a title fight with bulletproof champion Demetrious Johnson. Johnson defeated Dodson via unanimous decision at UFC on FOX 6 back in 2013.

"I'm still happy I got the win and hope a title shot is next," Dodson said. "I'll be a totally different fighter against Demetrious Johnson, and I will throw everything at him."

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