UFC 178: Johnson vs Cariaso

[Supremo]

https://vine.co/v/OZ5KFtT2OvJ

 

They're not in Las Vegas to take part, they're in Las Vegas to take over.

[wandshogun09]

Conor McGregor @TheNotoriousMMA

We have successfully invaded Sin City. Feast well tonight my countrymen, for tomorrow, we feast on the soul of the enemy. WELCOME TO EIRE!!!

It's on a smaller scale but there's shades here of when Ricky Hatton used to fight in Vegas and there'd be thousands of Brits flying over, packing the weigh ins and the arena on fight night. And this is his first PPV appearance!

 

The event doesn't even start for about 12 hours yet and this thread is already longer than most of the PPV threads we have on here.

[TheTagRope]

UFC are doing a good job of bringing me back into the sport with what looks to be a stacked card, not to mention the must-see rise of Conor McGregor. As an Irishman, it's difficult not to get caught up in the storm of McGregor, will be fascinating to see how it all plays out.

 

To the more experienced UFC viewers, is there anything else I should be looking out for on this card? 

[Egg Shen]

the whole thing is looking good man. Cerrone/Alvarez has the makings of a FOTY contender.

 

Yoel Romero is one of the most physically imposing men on the roster, freakish strong...and most people wanna see him smash Tim Kennedy so look out for that.

 

The return of Dominic Cruz obviously, he was Banamweight champ but vacated his belt due to injury, its his first fight in 3 years.

 

Always pumped for Jorge Masvidal, technical but loves a scrap, always fun to watch.

 

oh, and the title fight.

[wandshogun09]

Read my opening post TagRope, if you want my meaningless opinion. I'd only end up repeating most of that anyway in answer to your post. It really is a fantastic card top to bottom.

 

Does Ariel Helwani read the UKFF?

 

It's on a smaller scale but there's shades here of when Ricky Hatton used to fight in Vegas and there'd be thousands of Brits flying over, packing the weigh ins and the arena on fight night.

Ariel Helwani @arielhelwani 58m

So cool seeing the amount of Irish people here for this fight. What an amazing fan base. Shades of Ricky Hatton in Vegas all over again.

[wandshogun09]

Embedded 6, weigh in day;

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=RafFCnsomH0

 

Fuck, I shouldn't have watched that yet. Still nearly two long hours to go.

 

My brother and two of my mates who used to watch are coming over in a bit. Conor McGregor has pulled them back in, for one night at least. This is the type of card I can see hooking them again.

 

I'm out. Enjoy the fights.

[Egg Shen]

Embedded is fantastic

[Egg Shen]

ill post some thoughts tomorrow cause its bedtime

 

...but that was tremendous.

[GlennCullen]

What a show, makes the world of difference watching a 'PPV' caliber card instead of a one fight card on TV.

 

Cruz looked awesome, obviously wasn't a test of his cardio but it was great to see him employ the same style and not miss a beat.

 

Zigano pulling out DDTs and Ankle locks was a highlight, looking forward to seeing her fight for the title, but she won't have the luxury of rebounding from a first round like that against Rousey.

 

It's a shame 'stall-gate' will taint the win for Romero because that finish was incredible. Glad to see Kennedy lose.

 

What can you say about Connor? Looked world class. Simple.

 

Alvarez was obviously incredibly limited due to his leg which was disappointing, but a hell of a performance from Cerrone. At least the boy finally got paid, and Cerrone jumps right into the title picture.

 

They really need to groom some decent challengers for Mighty Mouse, its getting silly now. Absolutely dominated.

 

Very enjoyable. War McGregor.

[Egg Shen]

yep, so what a show. I think the measure of how good an event is by seeing how many genuine talking points there are after the fight, this show has loads, it really felt like a special event and it delivered...

 

* Conor McGregor, well the dude made it look easy. The guy's self-belief and ability to perform under what must be enormous pressure is just staggering. McGregor's make a superstar make no bones about it. As predicted i saw the expected i saw the expected 'i'll be impressed when he beats Edgar or Mendes' posts on twitter after the destruction, haters gonna hate.

 

* Romero/Kennedy was fucking brilliant! i love a little controversy thrown in and this most definitely had it. 'Stool-gate' was ushered in and it led to Romero winning abit of a classic. The final 3-4 minutes of this fight were just crazy, just sheer lunacy...first off, i have no idea how Romero even got to the bell at the end of round 2, he was getting smashed. Comes out for round 3 after an 'extended break' and just smashes Kennedy to dust. Brilliant, drama-filled stuff. I don't even put the blame for the stool on him, Romero was on queer street, i credit him and his corner for buying him time, all's fair in love & war. Rightfully got FOTN too.

 

Lots of stool related fun going on over on twitter too

 

Yoel Romero unwillingly turned heel last night.

 

* Demetrious Johnson is so much better than the rest of the 125lb division it's making the whole thing un-interesting. Cariaso was outclassed everywhere. It's a weird situation because it certain cirumstances fans get behind a guy that just breezes through people with ease, they get on board with the destruction but it just happening with Johnson...i genuinely think it's down to the size of the guy, but there's no denying that Mighty Mouse is an elite a fighter as there is in MMA, flawless. Mouse/Dodson II is the only fight to make.

 

* Cerrone/Alvarez delivered but wasn't the classic we'd have hoped for. Cerrone simply leg-kicked the fight out of Alvarez. The size was a huge factor and Alvarez simply couldn't deal with the kicking game of Cowboy, he broke him down over the 3 rounds and probably should have got the finish. Alvarez' stock doesn't fall for me, he just met a guy with a superior gameplan. Someone over on twitter mentioned Alvarez/Gomi next, yes.

 

Cowboy marches on, guy looks unstoppable at the moment. Khabib/Cowboy next? that's where the run stops for me.

 

* Zingano/Nunes was great too. Cat Zingano brings so much emotion into the cage it's hard to not root for her, there were people questioning whether she should even be in the cage fighting after the fight, she just seems to be an emotional wrecked before and after the fight. Tough cookie though and she got destroyed in that opening round. Nunes played her part despite blowing her wad in round 1, props to both. Zingano/Rousey has to happen.

 

* Dominick Cruz

 

 

* Other prelims were decent warmups too, glad my man Masvidal marched on, i know it wont happen but i'd love to see Cowboy/Masvidal. Stephen Thompson lit up Patrick Cote. Only disappointment was Ebersole/Howard but that held my attention cause i enjoy watching all the weird shit Ebersole does.

[Supremo]

What a show. Absolutely perfect.

 

Dominick Cruz looked phenomenal. A story book return, you have to assume that a performance like that will earn him a title shot. It seems almost wasteful to not do the Faber fight first though. Particularly with so many shows and so few legitimate main events. Considering how much build up it got with that live season of TUF, I think they'd be best to capitalise on that rivalry, making Faber vs. Cruz either a FOX headliner or a PPV semi-main to add support to one of the less marketable champions. Then when Cruz almost certainly beats Faber again he can go on to face TJ. Makes a nice little story for an otherwise dull division.

 

Another feel-good story-book performance from Zingano as well. Those DDTs were amazing. Are they legal though? I'm sure it's against the rules to spike your opponent on their head, isn't it? Either way, really good comeback and a great fight. These 135 women seem to be delivering more and more. I can't wait to see Cat vs. Rousey.

 

Conor fucking McGregor. What can you possibly say? He always had the potential. The talk, the look, the charisma. You could see it a mile away. All he needed to do was deliver in the cage and he'd be one of the biggest stars of all time. Well, fucking hell. He's the real deal. This was the night when everything fell into place. He went in there with torn ligaments in his thumb and smashed the #5 ranked guy with ease. And whilst he's busy cementing himself as a legitimate contender, he still manages to deliver brilliant one liners ("I don't just knock them out, I pick the round!" "If one of us goes to war, we all go to war!" ). He even did the Rock's "Just Bring It," hand gesture before the fight! Just amazing.

 

I read online someone suggesting that Bruce Buffer should announce McGregor as, "fighting out of Dustin Poirier's head," which I think sums it up perfectly. Conor was on the wind up throughout the past few weeks and Dustin completely fell for it. He looked pissed off all week, then completely spooked in the cage.

 

I was jumping for joy at the finish. In fact, I'm almost happy it was a bit controversial, with Dustin saying he got hit at the back of the head. It'll just wind up the hardcores even more, and we'll end up with a situation similar to Brock Lesnar, where the hardcore fans keep getting angrier and angrier, with each fight getting bigger and bigger. Imagine if he won the belt? A million buys. Seriously.

 

I'm not even kidding; they should just do a McGregor title fight in a Dublin football stadium early next year. He's not only the most marketable challenger anymore. He also just destroyed #5 with ease, legitimising himself. It's now or never. There are literally millions and millions of dollars to be made and there's no doubt he'll fill a stadium now. You can even do it at 3am UK time or whatever. Having been in Dublin, I can garuntee you it won't make a difference to those fans. They'll go bonkers. As will I. So yeah; I liked this fight. Conor McGregor is the best thing to happen to this sport in years.

 

Cerrone looked great and should probably be next in line for a title shot. An amazing fight that delivered exactly what was advertised, I think it raised Eddie's profile massively too.

 

Mighty Mouse can fuck off. I'm sorry, but I just don't care. They'd have been better showing McGregor's post fight press conference instead of that main event. I did laugh when Demetrious gave the classic, "I won't call anyone out," line in his post fight interview though. Never has such a talented fighter been so utterly clueless as to how to make people care about him. He should be a huge star given how good he is in the cage. But sorry, I don't care at all. Hopefully McCall or Lineker, whoever wins, will give a really good performance in their fight and I'll hopefully care about the next Flyweight Title fight. I'm tired of all these faceless prelim guys getting Title shots.

 

But yeah, other than a main event nobody could possible care about, this show was a complete home run and you couldn't have scripted it any better.

[Egg Shen]

What a show. Absolutely perfect.

 

Dominick Cruz looked phenomenal. A story book return, you have to assume that a performance like that will earn him a title shot. It seems almost wasteful to not do the Faber fight first though. Particularly with so many shows and so few legitimate main events. Considering how much build up it got with that live season of TUF, I think they'd be best to capitalise on that rivalry, making Faber vs. Cruz either a FOX headliner or a PPV semi-main to add support to one of the less marketable champions. Then when Cruz almost certainly beats Faber again he can go on to face TJ. Makes a nice little story for an otherwise dull division.

 

sounds good but i think it'd be harsh to make Cruz fight one more time before getting his shot. Someone suggested Cruz/Dillashaw, Barao/Assuncao on the same card, i'd be down for that.

[Noah Southworth]

Manvel Gamburyan (13-8, 1 NC) vs. Cody Gibson (12-4) kicked things off. There wasn’t much to separate them in the first round as it was pretty even, though Gibson’s flurry late on may have won it for him. The second round saw Gamburyan take a full-on kick to the junk almost right away and he needed a few minutes to recover. Perhaps because of that, Gibson battered Gamburyan in the stand up for almost the remainder of the round, but near the end, Gamburyan powered up and fought like crazy to get Gibson down, and when he did, Gamburyan managed to get Gibson in a tight guillotine and just as Joe Rogan said Gamburyan was too high with it, Gibson tapped out and Gamburyan gets the win. In his post-fight interview, Gamburyan, hopefully, set the tone for the rest of night by calling someone out, specifically Bryan Caraway, who just happens to be the boyfriend of Gamburyan’s teammate, Ronda Rousey.

 

Jon Tuck (8-1) vs. Kevin Lee (8-1) was a hard fought win for Lee, and he earned it, sustaining two kicks to the junk in the second round. Lee had a point deducted after the second kick, which the fans did not like but Lee was warned after the first one. Lee beat up Tuck for most of the fight and bloodied him up near the end of the third round. Lee took it 30-26 on all three scorecards.

 

John Howard (170lbs, 22-9) vs. Brian Ebersole 170.5lbs, (50-6-1, 1 NC) was one of those fights were neither fighter looked bad but didn’t stand out, either. Howard landed started to land a nice inside leg kick as the fight went on, and whilst Ebersole threw more punches, Howards punches were much heavier. When it was on the ground, it was fairly even. I had it 29-28 for Howard, but the judges gave it to Ebersole on a split decision with, 29-28 on all three cards, so it looks like they rewarded volume over power.

 

Patrick Côté (170.5 lbs, 20-8) vs. Stephen Thompson (170lbs, 9-1) was a technical stand-up fight, almost all kicks. The story of this one was that Côté just couldn’t deal with the unorthodox stance and style of Thompson, who fights like Lyoto Machida, with a very karate-oriented style, lots of side movement and lots of moving in and out. Thompson floored Côté with a punch late which sealed the deal and Thompson wins by unanimous decision.

 

Jorge Masvidal (155lbs, 27-8) vs. James Krause (155lbs, 21-5) was a fairly one-sided fight with Masvidal too quick in the stand-up and too good on the ground for Krause.

 

Dominick Cruz (134lbs, 19-1) vs. Takeya Mizugaki (136lbs, 20-7-2) saw the long awaited return to action of Dominick Cruz as he took on a very tough Takeya Mizugaki; a win by Cruz where he looks good pretty much locks him up him for the next shot at TJ Dillashaw, and Mizugaki could also get a title shot off of  a win here. Well, it didn’t last long as Cruz quickly took Mizugaki down, battered him against the cage, and after waiting several shots too long, the referee finally steps in and calls it off. This was a major statement by Cruz because Mizugaki is tough, absolutely no joke, and he’s never been manhandled like this. Cruz looked like he’s never been away and in only a minute, showed that he is going to be a real challenge for TJ Dillashaw.

 

Cat Zingano (135lbs, 8-0) vs. Amanda Nunes (135lbs, 9-3) opened up the PPV with another fighter making their return to action after injury, with Cat Zingano returning to action against Amanda Nunes.  It didn’t start out so well for Zingano; after getting taken down mid-way through the first round, she was getting battered by Nunes and Zingano showed heart by weathering the storm and managing to get back into the fight and even end up on top. When the fighters got back standing, Zingano grabbed a guillotine and pulled out a throw that pretty much looked like a DDT. The second round saw Zingano get Nunes down almost right away and she stayed in top position for virtually the entire round, with Nunes pretty much just hanging on as Zingano stayed busy and kept looking for submissions including, at one point, an ankle lock. The third round opened up like the third, with Zingano taking Nunes down quickly, this time via the DDT takedown. With Zingano on top, she began throwing elbows and she busted Nunes open, and Zingano kept pouring it on until the referee stepped in to call it off. Zingano looked very dangerous once she got Nunes down, but she took a pounding in the first round, and whilst Zingano likely gets the next shot at Ronda Rousey and will give Rousey trouble, I don’t think she beats Rousey because if Nunes can get her down, Rousey definitely will, and Rousey won’t be leaving herself open like Nunes did. I think it will be a very interesting fight and I’d like to see it, but I give edge to Rousey.

 

Tim Kennedy (185lbs, 18-4) vs. Yoel Romero (185lbs, 8-1) had a decent first round with Romero landing some big power punches, bloodying Kennedy’s nose, but not going all out and Romero appeared to be pacing himself. They each were able to take the other down but were both up quickly. Romero takes the first round because of his better and more effective striking. The second round was slower with Romero just throwing the occasional strike to keep Kennedy from getting comfortable. Not a lot happened until right at the end when Kennedy landed some serious strikes and had Romero in trouble against the cage and just when it looked like Romero would be knocked down or the referee would step in, the round ended and Romero was saved by the bell. Romero was slowing considerably as the round was ending anyway and after that last barrage, he looked out on his feet between rounds. Romero’s corner pulled a bullshit stall move by not only leaving the cage as slowly as possible but then leaving the stool in the cage, all to give Romero more time to recover because he was clearly gassed. Early in the third, Romero rocked and dropped Kennedy with strikes and he began pouring it on, finding the energy from somewhere, and Kennedy was bleeding badly, and one final strike on the ground knocks Kennedy out. The fans are not happy because of the bullshit move from his corner to stall out the start of the round, and Romero really was lucky he pulled out that last surge because he was otherwise out on his feet. Romero makes a statement but in doing so, it’s been exposed that he has a really shitty gastank and his corner knows it.

 

We’re shown ‘one of the stars of this season’s Ultimate Fighter’. Only problem is Goldberg never tells us who she is, there is no graphic to tell us who she is, and she’s so heavily made up that I, someone who watches the show, can’t tell who she is.

 

Why is the biggest star of the next fight coming out first? And then he’s introduced first as well? What the hell? Basic promotion 101 says the biggest star comes out second and is introduced second; UFC knows this, they do it that way all the time, but they drop the ball on it here?

 

Dustin Poirier (145.5lbs, 16-3) vs. Conor McGregor (146lbs, 15-2) had the biggest heat heading into it because of the hype surrounding ‘The Notorious One’. The hype train continued in just 1:46 as McGregor danced and waltzed, picking Poirier apart with effective striking, and clipped him behind the ear to knock him down and a few hammerfists and punches later and the fight was over. Because of how this fight played out and you saw so little that you’ll still have people calling McGregor overhyped but he finished Poirier in under two-minutes and Poirier is very much the real deal. Not as brutal as Dominic Cruz’s win earlier but this was just as much of a statement.

 

Donald Cerrone (24-6, 1 NC) vs. Eddie Alvarez (25-3) saw the long awaited UFC debut of Eddie Alvarez, considered one of the best fighters outside of the UFC  and it almost funny how Goldberg and Rogan danced around referring to Bellator by name. Also funny was that, for as much hype as Alvarez got as being so good, and he is, he didn’t much of a reaction coming out nor when he was introduced. On to the fight, and the first round was fairly explosive, with the highlight being Alvarez clinching with Cerrone and delivering a heavy series of punches with some dirty boxing. Cerrone escaped and stayed in the fight but those strikes, and the few others Alvarez landed, clearly hurt and Alvarez takes the first round. The second round saw Cerrone land punches and kicks to the body of Alvarez, working it over, before moving to work on the left leg of Alvarez with kicks. Alvarez took a shot to the right eye and it was clearly hurt, swelling up underneath, and Cerrone was starting to look dominant as he battered the leg of Alvarez and the second round was a dominant one for Cerrone, so it should be tied heading into the third round. The third round was a total brawl, Cerrone landing with the kicks, Alvarez landing with the punches, but Cerrone just destroyed the left leg of Alvarez and late in the round, the leg gave out; Cerrone got on top of Alvarez and took top position, which Joe Rogan questioned because if Cerrone had backed off, Alvarez may not have been able get up and Cerrone would have won. As it is, Alvarez held on, literally, to last the round but there was never any doubt as to the result; Cerrone was just too good with the kicks and knees and Alvarez couldn’t keep up and he showed some holes in his game, notably an inability or refusal to check kicks or change strategy when he needed to. Alvarez is very good but I think this fight showed that Alvarez might be very good but he’s not great because Cerrone is great and Alvarez didn’t look to be at his level. Cerrone takes in 29-28 on all three scorecards and he should be getting the shot at the winner of Anthony Pettis vs. Gilbert Melendez.

 

Demetrious Johnson © (20-2-1) vs. Chris Cariaso (17-5) saw perhaps the least anticipated main event in modern UFC history. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again; they badly need to find a great referee who is close to size of the smaller fighters so they don’t look like children in comparison. Johnson won with a kimura mid-way through the second round. I care so little about Johnson and this fight in general that I can’t be bothered to write more. It was what everyone knew it would be; Johnson dominating Cariaso and never in danger. It wasn’t much of a fight and Johnson lacks the charisma, or any charisma, to get fans into the fight anyway.

 

Overall, this was a good card but the main event ended things on a damp squib because you had a title only the super hardcores care about held by a fighter only the super hardcores care about being defending against a guy nobody outside of the super hardcores know. There was plenty on this night that exemplified the difference between being over to the hardcore fans and being over to rest of the ticket buying public, and the main event was the biggest example of that.

 

[herbie747]

 

What a show. Absolutely perfect.

 

Dominick Cruz looked phenomenal. A story book return, you have to assume that a performance like that will earn him a title shot. It seems almost wasteful to not do the Faber fight first though. Particularly with so many shows and so few legitimate main events. Considering how much build up it got with that live season of TUF, I think they'd be best to capitalise on that rivalry, making Faber vs. Cruz either a FOX headliner or a PPV semi-main to add support to one of the less marketable champions. Then when Cruz almost certainly beats Faber again he can go on to face TJ. Makes a nice little story for an otherwise dull division.

 

sounds good but i think it'd be harsh to make Cruz fight one more time before getting his shot. Someone suggested Cruz/Dillashaw, Barao/Assuncao on the same card, i'd be down for that.

 

 

Dana already confirmed Cruz vs Dillashaw at the press conference. No date yet, but it's the next fight for both.

 

Great show - top to bottom. Glad I stayed up for it.

[Egg Shen]

yeh it can be hard work but watching a show live is so much better, i had like an hours kip from 10-11 last night, go up and i was fresh as a daisy right through. Even got time to get the Abraham/Smith fight in beforehand. Top night haha.