In what quickly became another blur of footwork, endurance, pinpoint accuracy and magisterial body control, UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson dismantled Ali Bagautinov beyond any shadow of a doubt on Saturday night, easily defending his 125-pound strap for the fourth consecutive time in the main event of UFC 174.
With his latest conquest, Johnson’s continued dominance over the rest of his diminutive brethren have effectively rendered the flyweight cupboard bare as can be, with the entirety of the top-five sporting at least one, if not two losses to the man they call “Mighty Mouse.” It’s a curious situation for UFC matchmakers to be in, trying to figure out how to continue developing interest in a brand-new division that already appears to be all but cleaned out. But alas, those are questions for later days. Saturday night was all about Johnson, and the for most the part, the pros were in full-on celebration mode for the mastery of the UFC’s Lilliputian champ.
Wowwwwwww awesome fight…
— Antonio Pezao Silva (@BigfootSilva) June 15, 2014
Mighty mouse is a complete fighter!
— Abel Trujillo (@AbelTrujillo1) June 15, 2014
Wow @MightyMouseUFC is such a beast. Great technique, conditioning & athleticism.
— Nick Newell (@NotoriousNewell) June 15, 2014
Nickname should be Demetrious “fast forward” Johnson !!! #lightningfast #UFC174
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunsonMMA) June 15, 2014
It was nice of the @ufc to let the screaming goat from youtube in to watch the fights
— Kyle Noke (@KyleNoke) June 15, 2014
DJ’s wife had to have been a cheerleader or maybe a professional roller-coaster rider
— Cub Swanson (@CubSwanson) June 15, 2014
DJ is way more well rounded. Probly the moSt diverse fighter
— TJ Grant (@TJ_Grant) June 15, 2014
That fight set flyweights back a few years.
— Lance Palmer (@LancePalmer) June 15, 2014
DJ please breathe heavy so people at home know this is actually really hard
— Brian Stann (@BrianStann) June 15, 2014
Do I have anything derogatory to say about the Champ? Yeah… He’s great…@MightyMouseUFC #Rocky2 #UFC174
— Zachary Makovsky (@ZachFunSize) June 15, 2014
MACDONALD OUTCLASSES WOODLEY
Rory is good!
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) June 15, 2014
@rory_macdonald will be the next ww champ!!! #UFC174
— Mark Bocek (@MarkBocek) June 15, 2014
Rory totally nullifies Tyron Woodley and will take this fight 30-27. The Vancouver crowd approves #ufc174
— Sarah Kaufman (@mmasarah) June 15, 2014
I think @rory_macdonald will become champ and keep the belt for a long time.. He’ll be the next GSP! #UFC174
— Akira Corassani (@AkiraCorassani) June 15, 2014
Wtf woodley…you’re the wrestler man! Act like it and stop lettin him back you up! Come on man lets get it!
— Cody Bollinger (@CodyBollinger) June 15, 2014
Congrats @rory_macdonald! Great performance! #1Contender
— Zachary Makovsky (@ZachFunSize) June 15, 2014
Just A Beast Performance Tonight By My Homie @rory_macdonald #TeamTristar
— Ryan Ford (@RyanFordMMA) June 15, 2014
Rory looked fantastic, best fight of his career imo
— Brian Stann (@BrianStann) June 15, 2014
Give @rory_macdonald a shot at that belt!!
— Chad Laprise (@ChadLaprise) June 15, 2014
Rory tough, wasn’t expecting it to go down like that!
— Abel Trujillo (@AbelTrujillo1) June 15, 2014
Gotta give mad props to @rory_macdonald he looked phenomenal tonight! #UFC174
— Jon SuperSaiyan Tuck (@JonCruzTuck) June 15, 2014
After this performance by Woodley, I don’t think I’ll be using those “dude wipes” #UFC174
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunsonMMA) June 15, 2014
Definitely going to have to see what the hell “Dude Wipes” are…. Lets all just guess without looking #UFC174
— Nick Newell (@NotoriousNewell) June 15, 2014
That Rory MacDonald jab tho… #UFC174
— James Krause (@TheJamesKrause) June 15, 2014
Wow Everything Rory is doing is perfect
— Ike Vallie-Flagg (@IKEVF) June 15, 2014
All Firas Zahabi’s guys control range very well and great use of the jab set up their entire game combos, kicks, tkdwns etc
— Brian Stann (@BrianStann) June 15, 2014
A lot has to do with the pace and game of their opponent obviously, Rory has Tyron in reaction mode
— Brian Stann (@BrianStann) June 15, 2014
Rory looks Amazing
— Cub Swanson (@CubSwanson) June 15, 2014
Back up, you lose
— TJ Grant (@TJ_Grant) June 15, 2014
Great job @rory_macdonald !! Thank you for all the support @tristargym coaches, training partners and @headrushbrand pic.twitter.com/mzvBwjXQNf
— Firas Zahabi (@Firas_Zahabi) June 15, 2014
What the fuck are dude wipes ? Would have to pay me a ton to put that on my ass
— phil baroni (@philbaroni) June 15, 2014
BADER STEAMROLLS CAVALCANTE
Feijao looks flat & has literally no sense of urgency. Great output by Bader. That power double is the real deal #UFC174
— Nick Newell (@NotoriousNewell) June 15, 2014
Bader is looking impressive!
— Kelvin Gastelum (@KelvinGastelum) June 15, 2014
Man Bader looks sharp tonight
— Ike Vallie-Flagg (@IKEVF) June 15, 2014
Great job by @ryanbader relentless attacks!!! #totaldomination #UFC174
— Mark Bocek (@MarkBocek) June 15, 2014
Bader looked great! Monster.
— Cody Donovan (@donnybrookcody) June 15, 2014
I didn’t expect Bader to dominate like this….I’m impressed #UFC174
— Cub Swanson (@CubSwanson) June 15, 2014
ARLOVSKI STEALS ONE FROM SCHAUB
Arlovski is the shoulder hair champ #UFC174
— Nick Newell (@NotoriousNewell) June 15, 2014
Not a very good fight. Wasn’t paying close attention, I still thought Shaub won 2nd n 3rd rounds.
— TJ Grant (@TJ_Grant) June 15, 2014
Idk why the crowd was booing I thought Arlovski won the first 2 rds clearly
— James Vick (@JamesVickMMA) June 15, 2014
Wow, Florida commission must be in Canada right @brendanschaub @ufc
— Roy Nelson (@roynelsonmma) June 15, 2014
Hell yeah Arlovski got the win. 1st was a toss up, gave the 2nd round to AA! #UFC174
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunsonMMA) June 15, 2014
@BrendanSchaub won that fight in my eyes. Never leave it up to the judges. Keep your head up big dawg that was no loss.
— Brian Ortega (@BrianTcity) June 15, 2014
I mean this is getting ridiculous man! Come on Schaub won that fight.
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) June 15, 2014
“@tommoir1: @dc_mma do you agree the judges are getting silly now?” It’s getting worse. It’s very concerning as an athlete.
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) June 15, 2014
No way…..
— Antonio Pezao Silva (@BigfootSilva) June 15, 2014
Schaubs face is jacked up. He’s not complaining or anything. That’s a tough dude #UFC174
— Nick Newell (@NotoriousNewell) June 15, 2014
Maybe lighter guys can get a break and get paid more due to all the lackluster heavyweight fights? HWT typically get paid more. Just saying.
— Aljamain Sterling (@FunkMasterAljO) June 15, 2014
No idea how they scored that one
— Thomas E Watson (@TomKongWatson) June 15, 2014
Arlovski wins by split decision! Crowd is upset. Rd 3 was the most dominant rd of fight for schaub but rd 2 was close #ufc174
— Sarah Kaufman (@mmasarah) June 15, 2014
Congrats on your win you angry giant @AndreiArlovski @ufc #UFC174
— John Dodson III (@JohnDodsonMMA) June 15, 2014
Hard to believe AJ faught at Welterweight and beat Arlovski at Heavyweight
— Abel Trujillo (@AbelTrujillo1) June 15, 2014
Guys I’m fine! Just got cleared by the docs thanks for the support. We know who won that fight #TeamBigbrown @ufc
— Brendan Schaub (@BrendanSchaub) June 15, 2014
ST. PREUX SNAPS JIMMO
OSP gets the submission finish…reached in and pulled out a near side kimura. Looks like some damage was done though #ufc174
— Sarah Kaufman (@mmasarah) June 15, 2014
OSP gets the most awkward submissions ! #manstrength #UFC174
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunsonMMA) June 15, 2014
@clinthester No clue some hood sh**
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunsonMMA) June 15, 2014
OSP is going to have people hitting him up calling him a dirty fighter for attacking a weakness. (Rolls eyes) #UFC174
— James Krause (@TheJamesKrause) June 15, 2014
WOW WHAT WAS THAT!
— Abel Trujillo (@AbelTrujillo1) June 15, 2014
@003_ops broke his arm via kick, because he chicken wing the other
— Roy Nelson (@roynelsonmma) June 15, 2014
That was straight athleticism
— Abel Trujillo (@AbelTrujillo1) June 15, 2014
I am honored to be replaced by Bruce Lee in the new @EASPORTS @UFC video game. Thanks @UFC
— Tito Ortiz (@titoortiz) June 15, 2014