(He’s been sulking like that all day. / Photo via Sherdog)
The bout-order of the bottom-heavy UFC 178: Johnson vs. Cariaso PPV card (September 27th, Las Vegas) has been released, and as has become a recent tradition, one of the better fights has been dumped onto the FOX Sports 1 prelims in order to pump up the cable ratings. This time, it’s former bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz‘s match against top contender Takeya Mizugaki. Not exactly a hero’s welcome for The Dominator, who has been out of action for nearly three years.
Cruz vs. Mizugaki will serve as the “Prelims Main Event” [*Sweet Dee gagging sound*], while Cat Zingano vs. Amanda Nunes kicks off the PPV, and Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier sits pretty in the #3 spot (aka, “The Co-Co-Main Event,” or, “The Main Event of the First Three Fights on the Card™“). Meanwhile, Demetrious Johnson vs. Chris Cariaso is still the actual main event, and has to directly follow Eddie Alvarez vs. Donald Cerrone, as weary fans file out to beat traffic.
All in all, the card is certainly worth your money, although it might be hard convincing casual fans of that. (“Wait…Anthony Johnson is fighting *who*? Does this Chris Carano guy trane with the Gracies?”) The full UFC 178 lineup is below…
MAIN CARD (PPV, 10 p.m. ET)
Demetrious Johnson vs. Chris Cariaso
Eddie Alvarez vs. Donald Cerrone
Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier
Tim Kennedy vs. Yoel Romero
Cat Zingano vs. Amanda Nunes
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)
Dominick Cruz vs. Takeya Mizugaki
Jorge Masvidal vs. James Krause
Patrick Cote vs. Stephen Thompson
Brian Ebersole vs. John Howard
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 7 p.m. ET)
Kevin Lee vs. Jon Tuck
Manny Gamburyan vs. Cody Gibson