UFC 178: Johnson vs Cariaso took place on Saturday, September 27, 2014 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The main event was a 5-round showdown for the UFC Flyweight Championship as reigning champion Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson took on Chris Cariaso.
Check out our biggest winners and losers from UFC 178 below.
Winners:
Dominick Cruz: Finally, the return of Dominick Cruz. At UFC 178, the Alliance MMA product returned after an almost three year layoff due to two ACL surgeries as well as tearing his groin. The former UFC Bantamweight Champion was set to take on the fifth ranked Takeya Mizugaki. At the weigh-ins the night before, Cruz weighed in at 134 pounds and you could not remove the smile from his face there on. Cruz and Mizugaki headlined the prelims and it resulted in one of the more memorable moments of the entire year. Dominick Cruz put on an absolutely flawless performance; well he did get caught with one punch. Cruz annihilated a tough Mizugaki in just 61 seconds. The 29-year-old Cruz was previously criticized for not finishing fights, but this was not the case tonight. There could not have been a better return for ‘The Dominator’. A very emotional Cruz took it all in after putting on one of the best performances of his life. The current UFC Bantamweight Champion, T.J. Dillashaw will surely be facing off with Dominick Cruz in the very near future.
Cat Zingano: Another feel good story of the night took place when the returning Cat Zingano took on Amanda Nunes. Zingano was originally supposed to coach opposite of Womens Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey on the 18th season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’, but was forced to pull out due to a knee injury. After rehabilitating her injury and overcoming issues outside of fighting, ‘Alpha’ was finally returning after 17 months out. The Colorado native kicked off the pay-per-view against the Brazilian, Nunes. After a tough first round, Zingano was able to take over the fight and eventually finish Nunes via TKO at 1:21 of Round 3. Just like Cruz, the already number one ranked Zingano is likely to challenge for her division’s title.
Conor McGregor: The most hyped fight of the night was a featherweight showdown between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier. The charismatic Irishman who has his eyes set on the title said that he was going to “put Dustin away in the first round” and that is exactly what he did. The 9th ranked McGregor defeated the 5th ranked Poirier via TKO at 1:46 of the first round. There was some controversy on whether or not punches were landed to the back of the head, but the end result was McGregor with his hand raised. Poirier was by far the best fighter that ‘The Notorious’ has faced and he ran through him. The sky is the limit for this guy and regardless of whom he fights next; it will be a very high profile fight as he continues to become one of the biggest stars in the organization today.
Losers:
Referees: There was certainly a bunch of controversy and questioning going on at UFC 178 when it came to the officiating and it started off early. In the Kevin Lee and Jon Tuck fight, referee Jason Herzog had to call a break in the fight due to an illegal blow landed by Tuck. Herzog originally told Tuck that if it happened again a point would be taken, but a few seconds later, Herzog deducted a point right there. In the Dominick Cruz and Takeya Mizugaki fight, referee Chris Tognoni probably let the fight go on a bit longer than it had to and Mizugaki suffered because of it. None of this even compares to the officiating done in the Tim Kennedy and Yoel Romero fight. One of the best referees there is, Big John McCarthy, messed up significantly. Towards the end of the second round, Kennedy had Romero badly hurt. Romero was saved by the bell and upon the cue to start the third round; Romero was still on his stool and would not get up. The fight should have been stopped there when Romero would not get up. Romero ultimately ended up knocking Kennedy out, but Kennedy was not happy. Later on in the night, Kennedy would send a tweet out that said, “NAC 467.728 If a combatant fails or refuses to resume competing when the bell sounds…the referee shall award a decision of TKO.” The night was full of controversy and some issues will certainly be addressed in the days to come.
Takeya Mizugaki: Takeya Mizugaki took on the returning Dominick Cruz and it was not a very good outing for him. The fifth ranked bantamweight was absolutely decimated by the former UFC Bantamweight Champion. Mizugaki is usually known for his durability, but he was able to show none of that tonight as Cruz looked unstoppable and finished him in 61 seconds. This certainly puts a halt in the goal of challenging for the title for the Japanese MMA fighter.
Dustin Poirier: Dustin Poirier took on the hype train that is Conor McGregor. Leading up to the fight they both shared some heated words. The outcome was not what the American Top Team fighter was hoping for, as he was finished in the first round. Poirier may have been too emotionally invested, but one thing is for sure and that is that Poirier is much better than what was seen on Saturday night. Poirier will continue to be a top tier guy in the featherweight division, but this is one step back that he did not want to take.
