The UFC 178 pay-per-view was one of the best of 2014 thus far, and the results from the card headlined by the championship match between Demetrious Johnson and Chris Cariaso made for an unforgettable event.
As if Johnson retaining the UFC Flyweight Championship wasn’t enough, the co-headlining Donald Cerrone vs. Eddie Alvarez and Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier fights lived up to the hype. Add in Dominick Cruz’s dominant return to the Octagon, and UFC 178 was worth the purchase price.
Here are the full results from Saturday’s PPV, the bonus award winners and the biggest winner and loser from the marquee UFC event.
Biggest Winner: Dominick Cruz
The biggest winner from UFC 178 was former WEC and UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz. After almost three full years away from the sport, Cruz returned to the Octagon and looked even more dominant than ever when he knocked out Takeya Mizugaki in the first round.
Cruz looked to have regained his old form, and he told Ben Fowlkes of MMAJunkie.com about his reaction to the fight and how he could be better than before:
It’s a weird thing when you’re out there … it’s all just reaction. I felt like I had to do what I did after all this time. That’s the only thing that would’ve felt right. It was an amazing feeling and I have so much thanks for the fans who helped me through all this difficult time off. I think I’ve grown into my body and I’m faster and powerful than I was before.
For the rest of the bantamweight division, Cruz’s dominant performance was bad news.
Cruz has not lost a fight since March of 2007. While multiple knee surgeries and a torn groin had temporarily derailed his career, the former champion is back to regain the title the company stripped from him while he was recovering.
Dana White and the UFC officials will likely give Cruz one more warm-up fight on PPV (possibly a rubber match against Urijah Faber, teased in the video above), but the stage will soon be set for an eventual return to the title scene.
It’s just a matter of time before Cruz is once again bantamweight champion.
Biggest Loser: Dustin Poirier
The battle between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier was arguably the most anticipated fight of the night, but it was McGregor who proved to be the more dominant fighter. For Poirier, it was an utterly disappointing performance.
Poirier had won three fights coming into his matchup against McGregor, and the chatter before the fight had anticipation through the roof. Many expected Poirier to back up his talk with an elite performance—getting knocked out in the first round is not what fans expected.
MMA insider Mike Chiappetta talked about the lopsided matchup:
Shaheen Al-Shatti of MMAFighting.com talked about the look on Poirier’s face:
After coming into the fight as the fifth-ranked competitor in the featherweight division, via UFC.com, he was dominated by the ninth-ranked fighter in McGregor. Poirier needs a bounce-back performance, and a matchup against Cub Swanson would be ideal.
Swanson beat Poirier in 2013. If Swanson loses to Frankie Edgar at UFC Fight Night 57, a rematch between the two men could be a marquee fight that would add depth on any major PPV card.
*Stats via UFC.com.
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