On Saturday night, a packed house at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas came into UFC 178 with a bunch of questions. Those questions were answered considerably earlier than expected and helped really shape the path the top promotion can take in the next few months.
One of those inquiries of the night was how would Dominick Cruz look in his return after almost three years off. He did little to disprove his contention worth with a first round finish of Takeya Mizugaki. The footwork was on display and so was the mouth as we heard Cruz make mention of Team Alpha Male with a small call out to the whole team. If he is truly back then this is really great for the 135 division with potentially TJ Dillashaw and him starting a new rivalry.
Another person making an anticipated return was Cat Zingano. Coming off a devastating knee and the loss of her husband many wondered how she would fair in her first fight back. She did well with an impressive 3rd round stoppage of Amanda Nunes. This was all topped off by another impressive and dominant victory for Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson. There is plenty more to discuss on this well received UFC 178 card so let's get to it.
For those of you who will not give Demetrious Johnson (21-2-1) his credit it’s possible that you never will. Mighty Mouse continues to make his mark as one of the most dominant champions the UFC has ever seen and the way he out grappled Chris Cariaso (17-6) and was in control the entire fight shows his prowess. While the first round proved to be nothing more than a clinic of strikes and position from Johnson in the second is where he found his mark.
After grabbing control on the mat Demetrius was able get in position and submit Chris with a Kimura. He's faster and about two steps ahead of everyone in the division outside of Dodson. We can’t wait to see John back as Johnson is running out of contenders in the flyweight division. It’s no reason to discuss if DJ should be considered top P4P fighter. He is already that and so much more.
If there was ever a welcome to UFC moment to see it was had by the all-out leg assault of Donald Cerrone (25-6-1NC) to Eddie Alvarez (25-4). There were some fireworks early from Alvarez as he wanted nothing to do with the clinch of Cowboy and laid out a furious attack of head punches to prove that. The knees and outside leg kicks of Cowboy continued to find their mark and that is what eventually wore down Eddie.
The fight could have been stopped in the third round as clearly Cowboy took him out with one but instead of making Eddie show he was able to continue he pounced on him to secure the victory. In this writer’s opinion, Cowboy missed out on a finishing bonus but I’m sure he is happy with the results. Alvarez will do fine in the division and it will be interesting to see who they match him up with next. This writer can think of one opponent he won’t want to see after Cerrone and that’s another leg kick specialist in Edson Barbosa.
What was deemed as the people’s main event was left with high emotions and a tad bit of controversy. The lead up to Conor McGregor (16-2) and Dustin Poirier (16-4) will be remembered for some time. The fight itself maybe not so much. It was painfully obvious that while the strike that took out Poirier was a graze to the back of the head he was not out and the two follow up strikes were the same. With that being said the stopping of the fight was premature and the hype train of McGregor moves on. Conor is a great fighter and it is possible he would have won the match regardless.
Anyone who has seen a Poirier fight knows his ability to overcome and fight back to win. Not even allowing that opportunity to happen is a travesty. What’s needed is to see someone who will truly take the fight to Conor. Dustin is a fighter that takes a second to warm up and the momentum and push of Conor is too much for that approach. Luckily for us that’s all that is left in the division. Anyone he faces next will be head down and looking for the kill. Maybe Dustin is not the true gatekeeper of the top five in the featherweight division but this writer feels we never got a chance to see it. Bring on Bermudez.
If anyone has no issue gripping about what happen Saturday it’s the always vocal Tim Kennedy (18-5). Honestly from the public eye he can be looked at as a whiner as there is something always ruffling his feathers. His argument is valid. In what is being deemed as “Stoolgate” after almost taking out Yoel Romero (9-1) in the end of the second round, Romero was still on the stool.
There was about a 28 second hold up before he returned to his feet and made short work of Kennedy in the third. While we can sit here and all day arguing over how much 28 seconds could make a difference in the fight, it’s a shame that the referee John McCarthy allowed it to happen. He’s too good and too knowledgeable to allow this to happen. It will be curious to see what NSAC does about this. This one would be nice to see play out again and it’s possible we may see it.
When Cat Zingano (9-0) went down with a knee injury we knew she would be back. When her husband passed away we felt she would be able to overcome this tragedy as well. In stellar fashion, Cat proved that she is ready for her number one contention. In an amazing display of grappling takedowns Cat fought off a tough first round from Amanda Nunes (9-4) to control the last two rounds on way to a finish.
Alpha Cat showcased two beautiful lateral drop takedowns with the last allowing her to gain top mount for the finish. Maybe she was showcasing the move to neutralize Rousey’s arm bar but we will have to see. Post-fight Dana White said he would give Cat her deserved title shot and while there is new heat between the champ and Bethe Correia this performance by Zingano was more than enough for the fans to want to see this happen.
It’s going to be a busy few days for the NSAC and the powers that be of the UFC but 178 will be a memorable event. Up next for the promotion is UFC Fight Night Stockholm exclusively on UFC Fight Pass on Sat October 4th. Make sure to check back right here on Vavel MMA for the recap! Below are the full results from UFC 178.
Main card
Demetrious Johnson def. Chris Cariaso via submission (kimura)
Donald Cerrone def. Eddie Alvarez via unanimous decision
Conor McGregor def. Dustin Poirier via first-round TKO
Yoel Romero def Tim Kennedy via third-round TKO
Cat Zingano def. Amanda Nunes via third-round TKO
Prelims
Dominick Cruz def. Takeya Mizugaki via first-round TKO
Jorge Masvidal def. James Krause via unanimous decision
Stephen Thompson def. Patrick Cote via unanimous decision
Brian Ebersole def. John Howard via split decision
Kevin Lee def. Jon Tuck via unanimous decision
Manvel Gamburyan def. Cody Gibson via submission (guillotine)