Tag: Demetrious Johnson

UFC 174 Results: Complete Breakdown of Johnson vs. Bagautinov Fight Card

After a show full of exciting results, including Demetrious Johnson successfully defending the UFC Flyweight Championship against Ali Bagautinov, the UFC 174 pay-per-view was worth the investment from MMA fans purchasing the event.
Not only did Johnson…

After a show full of exciting results, including Demetrious Johnson successfully defending the UFC Flyweight Championship against Ali Bagautinov, the UFC 174 pay-per-view was worth the investment from MMA fans purchasing the event.

Not only did Johnson retain his title, but the card also saw Rory MacDonald, Ryan Bader and Andrei Arlovski walk away victorious from Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Here are the complete results from Sunday’s show and a breakdown of Johnson vs. Bagautinov. 

 

Breaking Down the Main Event

There were many fans and experts who believed Bagautinov would push Johnson to his limit in the main event, but the defending UFC flyweight champion successfully retained the belt via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45).

Bagautinov looked strong at times in this fight—he took Johnson down twice during the five-round battle—but this was Johnson’s chance to shut down the doubters.

Johnson landed 164 strikes, with 133 of those being classified as significant. While it was clear Bagautinov was the better wrestler, he only landed 66 strikes, and just 36 of those were considered significant.

Bleacher Report’s MMA Twitter feed talked about how convincing this unanimous-decision victory was for Johnson:

Saturday’s victory was Johnson’s sixth in a row and fourth successful title defense, but it was the dominant fashion in which he earned the win that really turned the heads of those who believed Bagautinov was going to walk away with the title.

Rob Tatum of The MMA Corner talked about Johnson’s upward trajectory:

With Johnson only getting better, the entire flyweight division has been put on notice. Just as Anderson Silva ran roughshod over the middleweight division for so many years, the unique combination of power, speed and accuracy will help keep Johnson on top.

It was clear that Bagautinov pushed Johnson’s wrestling abilities past their limits, but the defending champion knew how to minimize damage and return the fight to the stand-up position, where he had the advantage.

After several brutal knees and kicks to the face—no one will ever question the toughness of Bagautinov after this war—it became obvious to the crowd and the judges that Johnson was the better overall fighter and Saturday’s victor.

As to the questions about who is next for Johnson, the answer should be John Dodson.

Johnson successfully defended his title against Dodson in the Fight of the Night winner in January of 2013, and a rematch would be an ideal main event for a PPV. Dodson has serious power in his hands and would challenge Johnson for the belt.

While Dodson would land some heavy punches, the tenacity and pure counterattacking instincts of Johnson would result in yet another title defense for one of the pound-for-pound toughest men in the sport today.

 

*Stats via UFC.com.

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UFC 174 Results: Did Demetrious Johnson’s Win Sell Fans on the Flyweights?

Demetrious Johnson did what he always does at UFC 174. But was it enough to sell fans on buying future pay-per-views featuring him and the flyweight division?
Well, judging from the comments on the Internet, it depends on who you ask.
There are plenty …

Demetrious Johnson did what he always does at UFC 174. But was it enough to sell fans on buying future pay-per-views featuring him and the flyweight division?

Well, judging from the comments on the Internet, it depends on who you ask.

There are plenty of fans who enjoy Johnson for what he is: one of the most technical fighters in the game today. Much in the manner of former welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre, Johnson’s performances tend to be very one-sided with little doubt as to who won.

But being such a dominant champion (Joe Rogan called him perfect during the UFC 174 broadcast) has its drawbacks as well. Fans not only expect Johnson to run over his competition, but they act displeased when it happens.

He was in complete control of Ali Bagautinov throughout the fight. Johnson would win a unanimous decision, not losing a single round to his challenger. But as dominant as the performance was, it was still missing something.

A definitive finish.

Everyone knows Johnson is better than Bagautinov, but the fight still went to the distance. On a night where the fights seemed to drag to a decision, Johnson could have used another finish. He has shown he’s capable of finishing top-level fighters, knocking out Joseph Benavidez and tapping out John Moraga in his previous title defenses.

I can appreciate what the champ brings to the cage; he’s one of the best fighters in all of MMA without a doubt. He brings a well-rounded game to the cage, but he, along with the rest of the flyweight division, has struggled to catch on with MMA fans.

If the fighters on the UFC’s roster don’t respect the flyweights, why should fans care?

The UFC has tried very hard to build up the flyweight division by featuring Johnson on national television. He was a big part of three consecutive UFC on Fox broadcasts, which in theory should have built up his name to sell a pay-per-view.

The only problem is that UFC 174 is likely to do terrible in terms of buys and suffered from a complete lack of promotion. But still, he had the opportunity to show people who didn’t care to watch UFC 174 what they would be missing.

Instead, he put on a lackluster, albeit dominant, performance against Bagautinov.

Johnson isn’t into hyping up fights with trash talk, and that’s fine. But if you’re going to be a top pound-for-pound fighter who doesn’t like to talk, you better give fans a reason to watch you in the cage. There comes a point when simply being dominant isn’t enough.

The UFC flyweight division desperately needed a finish from Johnson at UFC 174 to help create another pay-per-view draw. Instead, he offered a typical performance where he won decisively on the judges’ scorecards.

If that’s your cup of tea, then good for you. But for a lot of fans, that isn’t enough to make them drop 50 dollars on a pay-per-view.

Johnson had a great chance to put the flyweight division on the map at UFC 152 in September 2012 and failed to do so. It’s not often that you get a second chance to make an impact for an entire division while headlining a pay-per-view card, and he squandered his opportunity at UFC 174.

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Demetrious Johnson’s Flawless Victory over Ali Bagautinov Can’t Save UFC 174

Demetrious Johnson was pretty close to flawless on Saturday in his destruction of Ali Bagautinov.
The champ swept Bagautinov on all three scorecards at UFC 174, looking so dominant in his fourth consecutive flyweight title defense that saying he pitche…

Demetrious Johnson was pretty close to flawless on Saturday in his destruction of Ali Bagautinov.

The champ swept Bagautinov on all three scorecards at UFC 174, looking so dominant in his fourth consecutive flyweight title defense that saying he pitched a shutout doesn’t quite do it justice. It was more like a no-hitter and closer to a perfect game.

So why did it feel like something was missing?

Johnson was partly a victim of circumstance. His unanimous-decision win (50-45 x 3) came at the tail end of an uninspired night of fights in Vancouver, Canada. The last four bouts on the pay-per-view main card went the distance, and despite a split verdict in the evening’s halfhearted heavyweight fight, none was competitive.

By the time we watched Johnson overwhelm Bagautinov in every facet of the main event, we had already watched Rory MacDonald overwhelm Tyron Woodley and Ryan Bader overwhelm Rafael Cavalcante. As for Andrei Arlovski vs. Brendan Schaub? Well, nobody was overwhelmed by that one.

The final fight of the night might have been a good spot for a stoppage, both to break the monotony and to give Johnson his third in a row. It felt as though he had established some momentum during the last year with impressive back-to-back finishes of John Moraga and Joseph Benavidez.

Instead, it appeared that “Mighty Mouse” lapsed back to the form that produced six decision wins and one majority draw during his first seven Octagon appearances.

Again, not entirely his fault. Though Bagautinov was a 5-1 underdog, according to BestFightOdds.com, he came in riding an 11-fight win streak and had never been finished in his professional career. It would be unfair to criticize Johnson for merely blowing his opponent’s doors off for 25 straight minutes.

“I’m the king,” Johnson said in the cage when it was over. “I’ll stay the king as long as I can, man. I’ll keep on knocking them down.”

The victory appears to have him ticketed for a rematch with John Dodson. That fight stands to be as good an offering as the flyweight division can muster right now while simultaneously underscoring the shallow nature of the 125-pound ranks.

Dodson has all the qualities necessary to be a good foil for Johnson and perhaps the physical skills to match him in the cage as well. But the two just fought 16 months ago, and Johnson won by unanimous decision. An encore performance will be fun but doesn’t figure to be the cure for what ails the flyweight division and its champion.

Part of what’s keeping Johnson from stardom must be stylistic. His fights are pure poetry but typically short on signature moments. Too often, watching him work is like listening to a great album without a hit single. Hardcore fans will love it, but the masses just keep nodding along, waiting for the hook.

The only flyweight champion in UFC history is undoubtedly a master of his craft. He zips around the Octagon at breakneck speed—a study in perpetual motion—hitting his opponents a half-dozen times before they can hit him once. He’s young and impeccably rounded, smart and likable. Aside from not being 6’4”, 245 pounds, he may well be the perfect fighter.

Don’t believe it? Just sit back and let the UFC broadcast team remind you again and again.

Like Renan Barao before him, perhaps one of Johnson’s problems is how devilishly hard the fight company’s hype machine is trying to sell him to us.

Even when Bagautinov managed to make things reasonably competitive in the early going, Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan only had eyes for the champion. It seemed as though the narrative had been decided before the fight started, and the announcers were going to keep repeating it until it stuck in our brains like a lousy advertising jingle.

The commentary wasn’t wrong, per se. Johnson is amazing. He is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. But the more the UFC struggles to remind us that what we’re seeing is miraculous—that our minds should be blown by it—the more it all starts to seem manufactured.

That’s kind of a shame for Johnson, a 27-year-old magician who doesn’t always benefit from people shouting about how awesome his tricks are while he’s performing them.

He is a genius. Like a lot of geniuses, his work isn’t easily accessible.

It can’t be properly celebrated in jargon or buzzy catchphrases. It doesn’t lend itself to Linkin Park-infused highlight teasers. It’s remarkable to watch but doesn’t routinely make you jump out of your seat with excitement.

It means he’s an exceptional fighter but not the kind of guy who is going to sell a million PPVs.

He’s not going to save a fight card after it’s already clattered off the rails.

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UFC 174: Fans Exit Early from Demetrious Johnson’s Dominant Title Fight

Demetrious Johnson was the faster fighter. He was the quicker fighter. He was the better fighter in his five-round shutout against Ali Bagautinov at UFC 174 on Saturday.
MMAFighting.com’s Shaun Al-Shatti tweeted this from Johnson’s post-fight interview…

Demetrious Johnson was the faster fighter. He was the quicker fighter. He was the better fighter in his five-round shutout against Ali Bagautinov at UFC 174 on Saturday.

MMAFighting.com’s Shaun Al-Shatti tweeted this from Johnson’s post-fight interview with Joe Rogan:

Flyweight king or not, Johnson’s dominant performance was apparently not enough to keep some of the 13,506 fans at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada from sticking around to watch the champ have his hand raised. 

Sherdog.com’s Jordan Breen tweeted during the title fight:

Possibly stemming from the lack of fans in attendance or simply from the fact that the fight was so one-sided—though the fans who managed to stay seemingly weren’t excited either—MMAFighting.com tweeted:

“Mighty Mouse” wasn’t too bothered by it, though. Johnson first told reporters at the UFC 174 post-fight press conference: “I didn’t notice at all. I was too busy throwing knees in the clinch. It doesn’t bother me at all, you know. People are free to leave and go as they please. They’re not held here in contempt. I think all the educated fans loved it.”

This isn’t the first time Johnson’s dominating performances have gone unappreciated by casual fans. He’s often criticized for being dominant enough to completely dispatch his opponents but not dominant enough to finish his fights inside of the Octagon. 

It’s not all his fault, though—he’s doing his part to put on a solid performance. The stats advertised during the fight only reinforced what people were observing: a one-sided beating by the reigning, defending, undisputed, cursed flyweight champion of the world. By the end of the third round, he had reportedly landed more than 150 strikes. Bagautinov could only hover around 60.

MMAFighting.com’s senior editor Luke Thomas summed up why Johnson’s dominant performances often go unappreciated in a series of tweets:

Hopefully, a rematch with the endlessly charismatic John Dodson will serve as a defibrillator to Johnson’s struggling popularity.

It’s worth noting that this was the first time Johnson had his name announced last at a UFC pay-per-view. His seemingly underwhelming but absolutely dominant performance—coupled with the fans who opted to get drenched in the rain instead of watch Dana White wrap the belt around his waist—could force White and company to question whether they can afford to headline another fight card with Johnson.

 

Kristian Ibarra is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report. He also serves as the sports editor at San Diego State University’s student-run newspaper, The Daily Aztec. Follow him on Twitter at @Kristian_Ibarra for all things MMA. 

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UFC 174: Grades for Every Main Card Fighter

In the UFC’s return to the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson defended his strap for the fourth time with a one-sided win over Ali Bagautinov Saturday night at UFC 174.
Granted, the last four fights ended in decisio…

In the UFC’s return to the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson defended his strap for the fourth time with a one-sided win over Ali Bagautinov Saturday night at UFC 174.

Granted, the last four fights ended in decisions, but each fight on the night’s main card had its moments, highlighted by another convincing win in the co-main event from 24-year-old Canadian Rory MacDonald.

Here are grades for each of the five bouts on the main card.

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UFC 174 Results: 3 Fights for Demetrious Johnson to Take Next

It’s official.
UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson is as good as it gets.
In a five-round elementary beatdown of top contender Ali Bagautinov, the ultra-slick and uber-smooth Johnson displayed perfect technique, movement, quickness…

It’s official.

UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson is as good as it gets.

In a five-round elementary beatdown of top contender Ali Bagautinov, the ultra-slick and uber-smooth Johnson displayed perfect technique, movement, quickness and control from the first bell to the last.

The victory not only serves as the champ’s fourth straight defense, but more so, it’s an exclamation mark on the flyweight division’s short list of worthy contenders.

Johnson has beat them all.

From dynamic wrestlers to powerful punchers, the 27-year-old has knocked them all down like a heat-seeking missile in a one-lane bowling alley.

However, the show must go on and Johnson remains the final act.

Here are three fights for the 125-pound king to take next as he continues his rise to ultimate stardom.

 

Winner of Jussier Formiga vs. Zach Makovsky

With minimal options available at his fingertips, Johnson may be destined to take a fight opposite the winner of August’s showdown between Formiga and Makovsky at UFC 176.

The flyweight bout will not only give Formiga a chance to prove the hype he possessed upon signing with the promotion was not ill-advised, but it also allows Makovsky the opportunity to showcase his skills on a brighter stage.

As one of the more unknown division’s out there, it’s important to promote the up-and-coming prospects making a run for gold.

Makovsky is one of those guys looking for exposure.

In any case, Johnson’s abilities inside and out would present problems for either man. Formiga would be an easier opponent considering his track record for getting finished, but he’s a much more well-rounded fighter than Makovsky.

Johnson would be expected to beat either contender before the final bell rang.

 

Winner of Brad Pickett vs. Ian McCall

Expected to face one another next month at UFC Fight Night 46, flyweight contender MCall and former bantamweight standout Pickett could essentially produce the next title threat in the division.

If you remember, McCall has already fought Johnson twice, losing to him in the UFC’s 2012 flyweight tournament semifinal and tying him in the same previously attempted bout.

Many people believed McCall did enough to overturn anything close to a draw, but Johnson left little to the imagination when the two met for the second time.

As for Pickett, his flyweight debut opposite Neil Seery back in March wasn’t as climatic as we would have hoped it would be, but his victory gives him more divisional momentum than most.

Initially, McCall would pose a bigger threat to Johnson’s reign than Picket would, but if we’ve learned anything over the years while watching a guy like Brad Picket it’s that he can brawl with anyone.

Which either way the chips land, Johnson would have a worthy, promotable opponent.

 

John Dodson

Easily the most obvious choice to challenge Johnson for divisional title rights sometime toward the end of the year, flyweight bowling bowl Dodson is a fighter who can actually hang with the champ.

He’s done it once before, back at UFC on Fox 6, despite losing a five-round decision.

In that fight, Dodson was able to connect on Johnson multiple times, suggesting he could potentially win by finish given the right chain of events.

As someone who has devoured the rest of the division’s growing entities, Dodson simply needs another crack at the title.

If Joseph Benavidez is unable to do it, maybe The Magician can.

 

For more UFC 174 news and coverage,  

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