UFC 174 – Bagautinov vs Johnson

 

The line-up for UFC 174 boasted all the potential of a typical UFC event that built up a variety of emotions leading up the night itself. (Sorry it’s a bit late!)

Main Card

Ryan Jimmo vs Ovince Saint Preux 

The opening Light-heavy bout of the night started off with a good few exchanges, displaying the range of skills invloved in MMA however OSP quickly began to dominated the fight with his Karate skills. A series of head punches soon gave OSP the 2nd round but just as the final seconds began to tick the match was stopped as Jimmo announced he had broken his arm in a takedown. OSP is the winner through verbal tapout by T.K.O

 

Andrei Arlovski vs Bredan Schaub 

The return of the legend Andrei Arlovski overshadowed this match against Brendan Schaub who was determined to overthrow the old school fighter. Considering the heavyweight Arlovski hasn’t been inside the Octoagon sin 2008 as the rounds went on he slowly got back into his stride. Many could say that the energy of the fight was long and drawn out as a lot of people expect TKO’s in heavyweight battles. Even though there were various takedowns and hammer fist combos, this match lasted till the end and went to decisions who gave Arlovski the fight.

 

Rafael Feijao vs Ryan Bader 

Feijao came out ready to take this fight to the ground with some good jabs and takedowns but once set in his stride, Ryan Bader came back and turned up the pressure. In his true unpredictable style, Bader continued to dominated the fight with clear takedown that resulted in some intense ribs jabs. Feijao tried to recover from the blows but in the end Bader’s attacks led him to win the match by decision.

 

Rory Macdonald vs Tyron Woodley 

The Co-Main event certainly had a lot of pressure behind it as these two welterweight fighters had a lot to prove. From the get-go, there was obvious change to Woodley’s style who is normally very aggressive. Rory Macdonald managed to gain control of the Octagon early on and even though he faced some brutal blows, nothing was able to put him off target. Some beautiful takedowns and exchanges led to the judges giving Macdonald the fight.

 

Main Event

Ali Bagautinov vs Demetrious Johnson 

The Flyweight division is one of the best weight classes to watch in terms of skills, as fighters aren’t held down by masses of muscle, speed, tactics and athleticism are all on their side. The current champion Johnson has a unique style though he had his work cut out for him in this match against 11 fight winning streak Bagautinov. From the 1st round we saw the adrenaline rise as both fighters gave all they had in order to be the champ. By the 3rd round we saw Bagautinov start to slow down with his offence whereas Johnson maintained his fast footwork and sharp jabs. By the end of the 5th round it was clear to see the difference in stamina between the fighters as Johnson landed his blows on target, not enough strength for a knock-out yet getting the job done. Demetrious Johnson remains the UFC Flyweight champion.

 

Overall I feel that UFC 174 lacked some of the show-stopping, breath taking moments that usually shine through in main events but it was good to see technique play a bigger role in fights instead of always going for T.K.O’s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UFC 174 – Bagautinov vs Johnson was originally published on The Many Words Of Aic3la

UFC 152 reminded us it’s not always about the K.O

So as the smoke clears and we all rest into another wait i must say that UFC 152 was one of the best especially in terms of the title matches n not just the Jones n Belfort fight.

Cub Swanson is getting better and better, i remember him vaguely from the past but that fight yesterday will keep him firmly in my mind, amazing technique that led to that KO but Charles Oliveira just needs to have a bit more fire behind him then he will get up there with the rest.

Now i actually can’t decide which was a better fight between Bisping vs Stann or Johnson vs Benavidez…..

Bisping has improved significantly since his last fight and he proves why knows more than one fight style will pay off in the end. It was a close match but i’m happy for Bisping. This match was one of the rare fight when i actually couldn’t predict what the judges would score!! Now maybe a title shot can be set up…….

The surprise of the evening was the flyweight title shot as even though they were both relatively new to me, i could see why this category is so necessary. From the intro i could feel the adrenaline of the fight and even though they did manage to slug it out until the final round, i must say that they are both winners in my mind. The absence of the high energy knockouts we are used to in the flyweight probably disappointed the audience but this in it’s entirety was a perfectly matched fight. Johnson did have the edge of Benavidez but the last judge was a bit harsh scoring him only 46 to 49.

Now onto the main event of the evening as Bruce Buffer would say….

From the reaction of the crowd at the start of the fight you could feel the crowd had developed a slight anger towards Jones after the ‘UFC 151’ incident. Not sayin that Belfort couldn’t hold his own but i could see from Jones’s attitude he felt like he had to win this simply to prove why he deserves it.

The last 2 fights for Jones have been a bit predictable from him and we are starting to see his opponents takes advantage of his down time, (Machida’s punch to the face and Belfort’s amazing arm bar submission attempt), As much as i love Jones i really wish he would develop his skills more and become an all round better athlete. It’s fair to say that he relies on his huge reach ability and power to take his opponents rather than going in at them. I’m #TeamBones for life and can see him going from strength to strength but if he’s not careful someone is going to study him as he studies them and catch him off guard.

Overall an inspiring event with the first Flyweight belt awarded to Johnson and Jones retaining his title but more importantly doing what he had to do and brushing all those haters off.

UFC 151 should be proud xx

P.S. UFC 153 – Return of Big Nogueira!!!!