UFC 174 | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

UFC 174: Who’s on the Hot Seat?

At UFC 174, Demetrious Johnson will look to defend his flyweight championship again.
With three straight title defenses heading into his matchup with Ali Bagautinov, Mighty Mouse is carving his name deeper into the UFC history books every time he steps…

At UFC 174, Demetrious Johnson will look to defend his flyweight championship again.

With three straight title defenses heading into his matchup with Ali Bagautinov, Mighty Mouse is carving his name deeper into the UFC history books every time he steps into the Octagon. So, while the pressure is always on him, Johnson has as much job security as almost anybody on the UFC roster.

Likewise, Bagautinov should have a long UFC career ahead of him. The Russian is undefeated inside the Octagon and could still be improving at 28 years old.

Other UFC 174 competitors are in much deeper trouble than Johnson and Bagautinov. Some could be battling for their UFC careers this weekend. The following fighters are sitting on the hot seat heading into Saturday’s fight card in Vancouver, Canada.

Andrei Arlovski

He last stepped into the Octagon in March 2008, when he picked up a knockout win over Jake O’Brien, but Andrei Arlovski is set to make a surprising return this weekend.

The former heavyweight champion has posted an 8-5 record since leaving the world’s top MMA promotion. More recently, though, The Pit Bull has won six of his past seven bouts. Only Anthony Johnson has beaten Arlovski since the Belarusian finished his short Strikeforce career.

At 35 years old, Arlovski probably doesn’t have many fights left in him, but he was brought in as a big-name addition to a shallow UFC heavyweight division.

Nobody is expecting Arlovski to make a run at the heavyweight championship, but he could be a top-10 UFC heavyweight, and the UFC brass is likely expecting that from him in order for his contract to be worthwhile to them.

Arlovski’s value will be tested right away, as he takes on No. 13-ranked Brendan Schaub on Saturday. If Arlovski loses badly, his comeback won’t be long-lived.

Mike Easton

The UFC matchmakers have not been easy on Mike Easton recently.

In his past three fights, The Hulk has been beaten by now-bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw as well as ranked contenders Raphael Assuncao and Brad Pickett. Despite the high-level competition, the slump has put Easton‘s UFC career in jeopardy.

A loss to unranked Yves Jabouin on Saturday would be Easton’s fourth in a row. Winless since July 2012, Easton might have to rebound with a smaller show and earn his way back to the UFC.

All that said, Easton is looking at a favorable matchup. If he can work inside on Jabouin and get this fight to the ground, he may even be able to finish.

Tae Hyun Bang and Kajan Johnson

Unproven lightweights Tae Hyun Bang and Kajan Johnson will need to make an impression this weekend.

In his UFC debut, Bang was beaten by Mairbek Taisumov. At 31 years old, the South Korean can’t really be considered a prospect any longer, so he’ll need to produce now. An 0-2 start inside the Octagon with both bouts coming against UFC newcomers would pretty much ensure Bang’s release.

While Johnson will be competing in his first official UFC bout on Saturday, he’s had his chance to make it onto the UFC roster. The Canadian was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter: Nations, where he was beaten by Chad Laprise in the semifinals.

Bang and Johnson are both skilled enough to compete at this level, but one of them will likely be released unless they earn Fight of the Night honors.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 174: 5 Reasons to Watch

UFC 174 marks the company’s return to pay-per-view this weekend on the back of a UFC title fight. Led by Demetrious Johnson and Ali Bagautinov, the show boasts a stacked card with stars from the top to the bottom of the bill.
There has been somewhat of…

There has been somewhat of a negative reaction to this pay-per-view, as there has been whining about a lack of star power. However, there is a championship bout, a potential top contender’s bout, a former UFC heavyweight champion’s return and many other guys in their respective title pictures.

So, do you need five reasons to watch this event? Here are five that should persuade you to check out the card this weekend.

Begin Slideshow

UFC 174: Rory MacDonald vs. Tyron Woodley Full Head-to-Toe Breakdown

Before flashy flyweights Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and Ali Bagautinov ever step inside the Octagon this weekend at UFC 174, ultra-suave Rory MacDonald and powerhouse Tyron Woodley will wage welterweight war.
As two of the more athletic competit…

As two of the more athletic competitors at 170 pounds, MacDonald and Woodley have the initial skill sets to produce one of the better divisional bouts of 2014.

But in a sport defined by literally seconds, they’ll each have to be at their best to continue their emphatic title runs.

Here’s a complete head-to-toe breakdown for Saturday’s showdown pinpointing where each fighter’s advantage lies.

Begin Slideshow

UFC 174: Is Andrei Arlovski One-and-Done If He Loses?

Nine years ago, Andrei Arlovski became the interim UFC heavyweight champion by defeating Tim Sylvia in just 47 seconds. In his next fight, he defended the interim title by knocking out Justin Eilers in just over four minutes.
Then he was promoted to un…

Then he was promoted to undisputed champion when Frank Mir was unable to defend the title. Arlovski won his first undisputed title defense with a knockout in just 15 seconds.

Arlovski would only have five more fights in the UFC. He lost his title to Sylvia, lost a rematch to Sylvia and then won three fights. The third of those was the final fight on his UFC contract, and following that, he left the UFC.

During his time outside the UFC, Arlovski went 8-5 (1 NC), including the only recorded knockout of Roy Nelson in history. He fought for Strikeforce, Affliction, EliteXC, WSOF, ProElite and ONE Fighting Championship. He went everywhere.

During that time outside the UFC, Arlovski faced and knocked out Ben Rothwell then he faced and knocked out Roy Nelson. Then he hit a wall and dropped four straight.

The first two came against Fedor Emelianenko and Brett Rogers, both by knockout. It was around this time that people were beginning to question Arlovski’s chin and his future in the sport. The knockouts from both of them took less than four minutes combined.

He followed that up with a unanimous decision loss (29-28 all scorecards) to Antonio Silva, and another knockout loss, this one to Sergei Kharitonov in around three minutes.

It was after that loss that Arlovski started to put it all back together. He beat Ray Lopez and Travis Fulton with knockouts in the third round.

Following that, he took down Devin Cole and Mike Hayes before losing a unanimous decision to Anthony Johnson. Then in his last two fights before getting the call from the UFC, he beat Mike Kyle and knocked out Andreas Kraniotakes.

Now he’s ready to come back to the UFC, and he’ll be facing Brendan Schaub on Saturday. Schaub is the favorite, and should he beat Arlovski, will Arlovski get a second shot?

His opponent, Schaub, is ranked No. 14 in the division and has won two straight fights. He is a solid competitor in the heavyweight division and has taken down some legends in the sport, even if his chin is suspect as of late.

Schaub suffered two straight knockout losses from 2011 into 2012, losing to Minotauro Nogueira in just three minutes in August of 2011, then losing to Ben Rothwell in just over one minute in April 2012.

Since then, Schaub has won two straight, with a unanimous decision over Lavar Johnson and a technical submission over Matt Mitrione in the first round.

Arlovski has won his last two fights and four of his last five. He is one of only five heavyweight champions to defend the UFC title at least twice. He has fought solid competition outside of the Octagon. He was signed specifically for this fight and is not a late-injury replacement.

He will undoubtedly get a second fight in the UFC.

Arlovski has earned his place back in the UFC. The only way that he wouldn’t get a second fight is if he gets knocked out in under 30 seconds—and misses weight.

Even if he does lose to Schaub, he will get a second shot, probably on an undercard against a low-level heavyweight.

Or maybe the UFC will want to give Roy Nelson a chance to knock out the only person who knocked him out. That’d be a fun fight, and a great test to see where Arlovski’s chin is at.

The division has only 37 fighters and needs some new contenders in the mix. Arlovski could provide a new contender in today’s heavyweight division.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

‘The Puncher King’ Ali Bagautinov in Search of the Flyweight Crown at UFC 174

Every king needs a crown, and Ali Bagautinov has his sights set on taking the one he wants at UFC 174. The 28-year-old Dagestani will step into the Octagon to face reigning flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson in the main event of the organizatio…

“Mighty Mouse” is widely recognized as one of the sport’s pound-for-pound best and has been on a tear since claiming the inaugural flyweight title back in 2012. He’s successfully defended the 125-pound strap on three occasions, with his two most recent title defenses resulting in impressive stoppage victories.

From the look of things, “D.J.” is only getting better, but Bagautinov is determined to dethrone the champion when the two men step in to the Octagon on Saturday. Much like the titleholder, Bagautinov will be riding a strong wave of momentum into their title tilt at UFC 174, and he has every intention of keeping things rolling in Vancouver.

In what will undoubtedly be the biggest moment of his mixed martial arts career, Bagautinov is looking to capitalize on the tremendous opportunity in front of him.

“It is the most important thing in my life,” Bagautinov told Bleacher Report with the assistance of a translator. “It is the greatest thing in my life, and I do feel a lot responsibility coming into this fight. I believe everything has its own time, and I believe my time has come. The time has come for a new champion to have the belt.”

The Moscow-based fighter has found success in 11 consecutive showings on a run that has taken him to the top of the increasingly competitive flyweight division. Bagautinov made an immediate impact in his promotional debut when he earned a third-round TKO victory over Marcos Vinicius last September in Brazil, and he picked up wins over Tim Elliott and John Lineker, respectively, in his next two outings.

While Bagautinov wasted no time carving his way through the ranks of the 125-pound fold, he also believes he picked up a crucial amount of experience along the way.

All three of his bouts have come on the main card portion of the events he’s competed at, and fighting when the crowds in attendance were at their most raucous allowed him to quickly adapt to the unique environment of the sport’s biggest stage.

When Bagautinov first stepped into the Octagon he was a stranger in a strange land, but he believes this won’t be the case at UFC 174. The surging contender feels he’s fully adjusted to fighting under the bright lights of the UFC and will be prepared to shine when those lights are at their brightest when he faces Johnson this Saturday night at UFC 174.

“The first time I fought for the UFC it was in Brazil and I couldn’t even understand what was going on around me,” Bagautinov said. “In the second fight, I had more or less acclimated to my surroundings and was able to show a lot of the skills I possess. With every time out there—and with each matchup—I can feel myself becoming stronger, and I’m that much more assured and comfortable in there. I feel better with each fight, and I expect that to continue with this fight coming up.

“Whether the fight is on pay-per-view or not doesn’t mean anything to me,” he added. “I’m not getting anything from that. From my very first fight inside the Octagon, I have been on the main card, with my last two fights both being on pay-per-view cards. All of my fights in the UFC have come in what has felt like a big setting, so this fight being on pay-per-view won’t affect me at all.”

Duane Finley is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand, unless noted otherwise.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Johnson vs. Bagautinov: Complete Guide to UFC 174 Fight Card

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…

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.

Begin Slideshow