Even before he received the call, Ali Bagautinov had a feeling he would be challenging Demetrious Johnson for the flyweight championship. Since debuting in the UFC last year, the Dagestan native has made waves in the 125-pound division. After finishing Marcos Vinicius with punches in front of a hostile Brazilian crowd in September, Bagautinov earned consecutive decision victories over Tim Elliott and John Lineker. Immediately following his win over Lineker at UFC 169 four months ago, Bagautinov checked the UFCs official rankings and discovered hed broken into the top five. Since each fighter ranked above him had suffered recent losses to Johnson, Bagautinov knew he was next in line. "I dont know, but for some reason I had this feeling I would be given a chance at a title shot," Bagautinov told UFC.ca through a translator. "I watch all the fights in my (weight class). So I try to keep abreast of everything thats going on." Bagautinov gets his opportunity to dethrone Johnson in the headliner of UFC 174 in Vancouver, B.C. June 14. The co-main event features a pivotal welterweight bout between Rory MacDonald and Tyron Woodley. Also, former heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski returns against Brendan Schaub. Not only would a win over Johnson be the culmination of all his hard work in both mixed martial arts and Combat Sambo, it would earn Bagautinov the distinction of being the first Russian titleholder in UFC history. The heavy-handed striker also recently became a father, welcoming his first-born son. It goes without saying that a victory would allow him to further support his family. Bagautinov admitted a lot is riding on his fight with Johnson. "First of all, its very important to me that I will go into the history books as the first UFC champion from Russia," Bagautinov said. "It is very important to me, and without a doubt, it will help me provide better for my family. "I think that you will see more and more fighters from Russia (in the UFC). We have a lot of very successful and very promising fighters. I believe that they might be champions and titleholders in different categories, in the future." Though Bagautinov is on the cusp of making a better life for himself and his loved ones, his road to a title shot has been bumpy. A recent report from MMABoxing.ru claimed the fighter failed a 2012 drug test and was retroactively suspended for two years by the International Sambo Federation. According to the article, Bagautinov was flagged for methylhexanemine, a dietary supplement and stimulant commonly found in nasal sprays that is prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Bagautinov has since called the report bogus, stating that had he been suspended, he wouldnt have been allowed to compete in Sambo bouts in Russia. He also said the incident hasnt interfere with his training camp. "I never even thought about it," Bagautinov said bluntly. "It did not affect my training. I would say that I did experience some indignation as to why this nonsense suddenly came up. But it didnt damage me or hurt me in any way because I am focused on my training and my preparations." With the drug accusation behind him at least for now, Bagautinov has to get the job done against Johnson, who has proven to be a difficult puzzle to solve. Since capturing the inaugural flyweight championship in 2012, Mighty Mouse has been as impressive as any champion on the UFC roster. Johnsons toughness was on display in his first title defence in early 2013, as he rallied to win a unanimous decision over John Dodson. He then put on a dominant display against John Moraga last July before sealing the deal with a fifth-round armbar submission. In December, he became the first fighter to finish Joseph Benavidez by uncorking a vicious right hook for the stunning knockout win. Though Johnsons speed, footwork and timing have given other contenders fits, Bagautinov said hes figured out the flyweight champions style. "In my understanding, his style is to actually crock up his opponent and then to win during the fourth or fifth round," Bagautinov said. "I think hes trying to play it safe by not risking too much. Hes running around the cage and looking for the ninth corner. The cage has eight corners, so its as if hes looking for the ninth corner, then (he tries to deliver) the decisive strike, with a decisive result." Though Johnsons speed and slick striking are often considered among his best tools, Bagautinov feels his power and grappling will get the job done. "As Ive said before, God willing, if I get the title it will be the result of everything that I have been doing for all these years," Bagautinov said. "You can expect a beautiful and good quality fight." Cheap Nike Air Max 270 Ispa . 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The 33-year-old outside linebacker was an unrestricted free agent.Lefty Kyle Anderson got it started and Ray Sadler, Tyler Kuhn and Luis Alen finished it off, as the Winnipeg Goldeyes combined pitching and defense to win their eighth game of the young American Association season. Anderson went 6.1 innings and allowed just one run on five hits to earn the victory as the Goldeyes (8-4) beat the Sioux City Explorers (4-9) 2-1 in a thriller at Shaw Park. However, it was the final play of the game that brought the fans to their feet. With two out in the top of the ninth and speedy Nate Samson on first for Sioux City, Peter Barrows took a Chris Kissock pitch into the gap in left-centre field. But Sadler tracked it down, fired a strike to the cut-off man, Kuhn, who turned and fired a dart to catcher Luis Alen who easily put the tag on Samson for the final out of the game. "That was a great baseball game wasnt it?" Goldeyes manager Rick Forney asked rhetorically. "And that last play was a great play. You just dont know how hard that play is. That play is really hard. But those guys did a great job. Thats great baseball." Kuhn, the Goldeyes shortstop who threw a belt-high strike to the plate, knew exactly what he was going to do the moment the ball left Barrows bat. "Youre ready for a situation like that to happen," said Kuhn. "Once the ball went to the gap we all knew that home was the only place we were going. Ray gave me a good throw and I was able to make a good exchange and throw a decent ball to Luis to make the tag. Making a tag at homeplate is a tough play and Luis made a real ggood play there.dddddddddddd" Sioux City opened the scoring in the first inning. Former Canadian national team member, Rene Tosoni hit Andersons first pitch for a double and eventually scored on a cueballed infield single off the end of Tommy Mendoncas bat. The Goldeyes bounced back with a run in the fourth off Sioux City starter John Straka, as Donnie Webb singled, stole second and scored on a base hit by Casey Haerther. The Fish scored again in the fifth as Luis Alen doubled went to third on a groundout by Kuhn and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jake Blackwood. Thats all Anderson and the bullpen would need. Newly signed Kaohi Downing came in and pitched to two batters to get out of the sixth, then Brendan Lafferty shut it down in the eighth and Kissock got some tremendous defense to close it out and get his third save of the season. "My plan was to throw strikes," said Anderson. "Theyre a pretty aggressive team as we saw the other night, so I was really focusing on getting ahead in the counts. I wanted to get ahead early with the fastball and then move on to the curve ball and the change up and get them to roll over and just keep them off balance." Anderson (2-0, 1.13 ERA) did just that and earned the win. Straka (1-1, 2.29 ERA) pitched well but suffered the loss. The Goldeyes and Explorers meet up in Game 3 of this three-game series on Wednesday morning at 11 a.m. at Shaw Park. Matt Jackson (2-0, 1.39 ERA) will start for the Goldeyes while Wade Morrison (0-1, 1.17 ERA) will get the ball for Sioux City. ' ' '