It has been three years, nearly to the day, since the Ultimate Fighting Championship and its one-Octagon circus last rolled into Vancouver. The sport of mixed martial arts has long been plagued with issues in British Columbia, and the issues were great…
It has been three years, nearly to the day, since the Ultimate Fighting Championship and its one-Octagon circus last rolled into Vancouver. The sport of mixed martial arts has long been plagued with issues in British Columbia, and the issues were great enough that the UFC avoided the area altogether.
Those issues are mostly resolved now, and the promotion is headed back to town with a world championship fight and an intriguing main card that features the return of one of its more popular former heavyweight champions. And, as always, the entire card is available for viewer consumption in one form or another.
So kick back, prepare your mouse-clicking finger and get ready to check out the entire UFC 174: Johnson vs. Bagautinov fight card.
With three title defenses down, Demetrious Johnson is on his way toward becoming a UFC legend.
At UFC 174, he’ll look to make it four in a row against Ali Bagautinov. If successful, Johnson would match the title reigns of MMA greats Frank Shamrock, Pat…
With three title defenses down, Demetrious Johnson is on his way toward becoming a UFC legend.
At UFC 174, he’ll look to make it four in a row against Ali Bagautinov. If successful, Johnson would match the title reigns of MMA greats Frank Shamrock, Pat Miletich and Chuck Liddell.
Bagautinov won’t go down easy, though. The Russian has won 11 in a row and is undefeated inside the Octagon.
Here is a closer look at how Johnson and Bagautinov match up in all areas ahead of their meeting Saturday.
UFC Fight Night 42 is in the books. The results are as follows:
Benson Henderson defeats Rustam Khabilov via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:16 of the fourth round
Diego Sanchez defeats Ross Pearson by split decision (30-27, 27-30, 29-28)
John…
UFC Fight Night 42 is in the books. The results are as follows:
Benson Henderson defeats RustamKhabilov via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:16 of the fourth round
Diego Sanchez defeats Ross Pearson by split decision (30-27, 27-30, 29-28)
John Dodson defeats John Moraga by TKO (doctor stoppage) at 5:00 of the second round
Rafael dos Anjos defeats Jason High by TKO at 3:36 of the second round
Piotr Hallmann defeats Yves Edwards via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:31 of the third round
Bryan Caraway defeats Erik Perez via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:52 of the second round
Sergio Pettis defeats YaotzinMeza by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Lance Benoist defeats Bobby Voelker by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Scott Jorgensen defeats Danny Martinez by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Jon Tuck defeats Jake Lindsey by TKO (verbal tapout) at 2:47 of the third round
Patrick Cummins defeats Roger Narvaez by TKO at 2:28 of the second round
Headlined by the flyweight title fight between Demetrious Johnson and Ali Bagautinov, UFC 174 has an intriguing mix of young and old talent. A potential welterweight title eliminator sits in the co-main event slot and two important light heavyweight tilts in Ovince St. Preux vs. Ryan Jimmo and Rafael Cavalcante vs. Ryan Bader. Oh…and former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski is returning after six years. That’s pretty cool, too.
So what topics are worth discussing around the water cooler?
(“I’ll see you there, NOBODY!” Photo via Sherdog.)
The baseless cheap shot I just took in that caption aside, I’m actually pretty excited about the UFC’s decision to book a flyweight title fight between Demetrious Johnson and Ali Bagautinov as the main event of UFC 174. As Ariel Helwani noted when breaking the news earlier today, the fight will serve as Johnson’s first time headlining a pay-per-view and should make for another highly-technical, entertaining fight on his resume. Plus, with a maybesortaprobably #1 contender bout between Rory MacDonald and Tyron Woodley serving as the evening’s co-main event, UFC 174 is quickly becoming the most stacked card of the summer, amiright guyz?!!
After leaving his first seven UFC contests in the hands of the judges, “Mighty Mouse” has scored back-back-finishes of John Moraga and Joseph Benavidez via fifth round submission and first round KO, respectively. Bagautinov, on the other hand, has notched three straight victories over someone, someone else, and John Lineker since entering the UFC back in September of 2013.
As for the rest of UFC 174, well, we’ll just let these random Twitter users break it down…
(“I’ll see you there, NOBODY!” Photo via Sherdog.)
The baseless cheap shot I just took in that caption aside, I’m actually pretty excited about the UFC’s decision to book a flyweight title fight between Demetrious Johnson and Ali Bagautinov as the main event of UFC 174. As Ariel Helwani noted when breaking the news earlier today, the fight will serve as Johnson’s first time headlining a pay-per-view and should make for another highly-technical, entertaining fight on his resume. Plus, with a maybesortaprobably #1 contender bout between Rory MacDonald and Tyron Woodley serving as the evening’s co-main event, UFC 174 is quickly becoming the most stacked card of the summer, amiright guyz?!!
After leaving his first seven UFC contests in the hands of the judges, “Mighty Mouse” has scored back-back-finishes of John Moraga and Joseph Benavidez via fifth round submission and first round KO, respectively. Bagautinov, on the other hand, has notched three straight victories over someone, someone else, and John Lineker since entering the UFC back in September of 2013.
As for the rest of UFC 174, well, we’ll just let these random Twitter users break it down…
“If u don’t liek it dont by it dummy!” — Anonymous
Actually, now that I look over the Twitters and Youtubes, it would appear that many people aren’t even sharing my enthusiasm for the main event:
Jeez, a bunch of size-ists in here (although I will agree with Mr. Bowker that UFC 174 will draw shit numbers, you know, because of the main card being garbage-ass and all).
Considering the last two events to take place in Vancouver (UFC 115 and 131) didn’t even feature a title fight, Canadian fans should be more than satisfied with at least one of the (likely) twelve fights transpiring on June 14th. And that’s what the modern era of MMA is about, right? Stringing together just enough mildly intriguing fights to warrant charging less and less fans $50 to watch it?
Interesting news has come out that UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson will headline UFC 174 opposite surging Russian Ali Bagautinov.
The news was first broken by Canadian sports network SportsNet, and is being confirmed by various…
Interesting news has come out that UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson will headline UFC 174 opposite surging Russian Ali Bagautinov.
The news was first broken by Canadian sports network SportsNet, and is being confirmed by various other sources. Via Twitter:
This will be the first time a flyweight bout will headline a UFC pay-per-view card.
Johnson has been on an absolute tear as champion, notching an impressive come-from-behind victory by defeating John Dodson, utterly dominating John Moraga before setting a UFC record for latest stoppage victory. Most recently, he scored a shocking, emphatic first-round knockout over Joseph Benavidez.
While Johnson has been nothing but electric as champion, his drawing power has always been a serious question mark. He initially won the belt as a co-headliner behind a light heavyweight championship bout between Jon Jones and VitorBelfort. From there, he fought twice in the main event on UFC on Fox.
However, his UFC on Fox 9 bout with Benavidez was actually originally slated to be the main event to the finale of The Ultimate Fighter season 18 on Fox Sports 1. It wound up on Fox when a lightweight tilt between Anthony Pettis and Josh Thomson was scrapped.
It seems, though, that Johnson has earned himself a shot at headlining a pay-per-view main event.
His opponent, Ali Bagautinov, has been similarly dominant. He owns a 3-0 record in the UFC (13-2 in the MMA) and has handily defeated two fighters that were potential contenders in Tim Elliott and John Lineker.
UFC 174 takes place June 14 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Stick with Bleacher Report for more details as they become available.
The pound-for-pound debates continue on, and they will never cease. Why? Because there is no definitive way of knowing the answer to the question of who is the best fighter regardless of weight class.
That does not stop us from wondering, debating and…
The pound-for-pound debates continue on, and they will never cease. Why? Because there is no definitive way of knowing the answer to the question of who is the best fighter regardless of weight class.
That does not stop us from wondering, debating and breaking it down, however. That is why we will take a look at two of the most entertaining and technically proficient fighters in the UFC today: Demetrious Johnson and Renan Barao.
Who is the better fighter?
First, we should understand what pound-for-pound really means.
On its most basic level, pound-for-pound applies to the best technical fighter regardless of weight class—who would win if they were able to fight each other on ability alone.
However, it goes deeper than that. If flyweight champion Johnson were to go up to heavyweight against champion Cain Velasquez, he would still be overmatched even at the same weight. Measurables such as height and reach would still come into play.
To answer the question, we must assume that all those attributes are equal—including speed. It is about technical ability alone.
This is why I protest Jon Jones being the No. 1-ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC today. Technically speaking, he is still growing as a fighter. His greatest asset is knowing how to use his physical gifts.
His ability to utilize his length has been phenomenal, but what happened when he finally faced a fighter of similar physical gifts? Alexander Gustafsson pushed him to the brink.
Johnson and Barao have showcased incredible well-rounded skill inside the Octagon. They have been able to stake their claim as potentially being the best in the world.
Their FightMetric stats, shown side by side, are close. Barao has more significant strikes landed per minute (SLpM), but his accuracy is lower. Johnson absorbs less significant strikes per minute (SApM), but his defense is a percentage point behind Barao.
Barao is the more noted striker of the two. He has better kicks and a more diverse arsenal, but Johnson’s technique is near impeccable. He is one of the best wrestlers in MMA today due to how well he blends his wrestling with his striking, but Barao is one of the best at defending takedowns at 96 percent.
This is a case of splitting hairs.
It is hard to overlook Barao‘s incredible run. He is unbeaten in his last 33 bouts with 32 wins. Johnson has lost two of his last 12 bouts, but both were close fights in a higher weight classification.
The two 27-year-old fighters would make for an amazing matchup if all things were equal. Who would you take?
If I were forced to choose, I would side with Johnson.
The lone reason is that he has shown the ability to meld all of his skills together at the highest of levels.
“Mighty Mouse” blends his striking and wrestling together better than anyone, has shown knockout power and also boasts submission acumen. Barao has incredible striking and a proficient submission game, but his takedowns are not as crisp.
That is the difference.
Johnson outstrikes the best strikers in his division and outwrestles the best wrestlers. Barao does also but to a lesser extent.
There is no wrong answer. If one prefers Barao‘s stellar performances to Johnson’s, there is little argument to be had. They are the cream of the crop in MMA today. Their technical abilities are second to none. These two champions represent the apex of the sport.
Who do you think is the better pound-for-pound fighter between them? Debate it in the comment section below.
Barao is ranked No. 3 in the pound-for-pound rankings, while Johnson is right behind him at No. 5. Both champions are awaiting their next challenger, as no title fights have been made.
Interesting news has come out that UFC flyweight champion