The UFC returned to Vancouver after three long years and the show was capped off by a brilliant performance from flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson.
The 125-pound kingpin earned a clean sweep on the scorecards after lighting up Ali Bagautinov for five rounds in the main event of UFC 174.
Johnson improved to 20-2-1 and has now won six straight.
“I’m the king,” Johnson said after his victory. “I’m going to stay the king as long as I can and keep knocking them down.”
Mighty Mouse was landing at an absurdly accurate percentage, especially in the clinch. The champ landed 164 of 248 strike attempts and connected on 90 percent of the strikes he threw in the clinch. Johnson’s 97 significant strike differential (133 to 36) is the second largest in UFC championship fight history.
MacDonald dominates Woodley…
The Vancouver crowd went wild for B.C.’s Rory MacDonald and he didn’t disappoint in a dominant win over fellow welterweight contender Tyron Woodley.
The Canadian came out aggressive and confident early and kept Woodley guessing, mixing up a measured striking attack. MacDonald used his reach advantage beautifully and kept his defensive awareness in tact.
In the final round, MacDonald mixed things up and showed he can be just as dominant on the ground as he beat up Woodley on the mat for several minutes following a perfect takedown.
MacDonald is not guaranteed a title shot, but the next time he fights it could very well be for the 170-pound title, which is currently held by Johny Hendricks.
“One day very soon the belt will be mine,” MacDonald said after improving his pro record to 17-2.
MacDonald landed more significant strikes than his opponent in each round and hit Woodley a total of 97 times in 15 minutes.
Bader controls Cavalcante…
Ryan Bader didn’t want to risk trading leather with a knockout artist like Rafael Cavalcante, so he didn’t. The American played it safe and utilized his wrestling advantage over his Brazilian opponent en route to a unanimous decision win.
It was the first time in Cavalcante’s eight-year, 18-fight MMA career that he went the distance.
Bader landed 107 of his 154 strike attempts and took Cavalcante, who landed just 20 total strikes, down seven times.
Arlovski wins boring, controversial decision…
It had been six years since former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski had stepped foot in the Octagon and his return was a memorable one. Except it was memorable for all the wrong reasons, as he won a controversial, lacklustre split decision over Brendan Schaub.
Neither man was aggressive. Neither man landed many hard shots in the three-round tilt. Schaub kept winding up and winging his overhand right in the hopes to land one on Arlovski’s often-criticized chin, but he never connected. Even though Schaub didn’t land any fight-altering shots, he controlled the action and landed more strikes.
Arlovski now has 11 wins in the UFC heavyweight division which ties him with Cain Velasquez and Cheick Kongo for second all-time behind Frank Mir’s 14.
His victory didn’t go over well with those that watched the fight.
Jimmo verbally taps out…
It was an odd opening to the pay-per-view portion of UFC 174, as Canadian Ryan Jimmo tapped out verbally after appearing to injure his arm in the second round of his fight with Ovince St. Preux.
Jimmo hadn’t lost in Canada since his MMA debut in 2007 when he was knocked out by former Canadian Football League player Adam Braidwood.
St. Preux has now won five straight fights and is a perfect 4-0, with four stoppage wins in the UFC. He’s now one the second longest active win streak in the 205-pound division with only champion Jon Jones (11 wins in a row) on a longer streak.
IT’S TEBOW TIME!!!
Tim Tebow is in the house at UFC 174 ready to cheer on his friend Brendan Schaub, who fights Andrei Arlovski on the main card.
Bantamweights go back and forth…
In the lone female fight of the night, Valerie Letourneau and Elizabeth Phillips put on a show for the Vancouver fans with Letourneau winning a split decision.
Letourneau, who became the third Canadian woman to win in the UFC, was busted up in the first round after a punch from Phillips caused her left eye to swell up.
The Montreal native, who trains out of American Top Team in Florida, landed a whopping 119 significant strikes. She had UFC welterweight contender Hector Lombard and former WEC champion Mike Brown in her corner; Phillips, meanwhile, landed 79 of her own but slowed down in the final two rounds.
Both women took this fight on short notice after a series of injuries bumped several fighters off the card.
In the men’s division, Montreal’s Yves Jabouin topped fellow 135-pounder Mike Easton by unanimous decision. The two exchanged a total of 201 strikes — 110 for Easton, 81 for Jabouin — but it was Jabouin that landed the more significant strikes and mixed in five takedowns as well.
All six of Jabouin’s wins under the Zuffa banner have been by decision; Easton has now lost four straight fights in the UFC, all by decision.
Kunimoto chokes Sarafian…
Kiichi Kunimoto made quick work of TUF Brazil star Daniel Sarafian, submitting him with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their welterweight bout. Kunimoto has won six straight, while Sarafian has lost two straight.
Bang lowers the boom…
Fan favourite Kajan Johnson put up a valiant effort in his UFC debut, but was knocked out violently by Tae Hyun Bang in the third round of an exciting lightweight tilt.
Johnson was dropped early with a clean left hook from Bang in the first round, but managed to recover and score some quality takedowns and strikes of his own.
Throughout the fight, Johnson was dropping his left hand, which allowed Bang to capitalize in the third and connect on a fight-finishing overhand right.
Bang landed 34 significant strikes compared to Johnson’s 29, but the South Korean fighter landed the two biggest shots that both resulted in knockdowns.
Johnson capitalized on four of his nine takedown attempts, but was also swept several times from half-guard. The Tristar Gym product is one of the most popular fighters in Canada and has been for years.
Johnson, who became a star on TUF Nations earlier this year, hadn’t fought professionally since October 2011 as he dealt with a slew of injuries that nearly cost him his career — his fights on TUF Nations are classified as exhibition bouts.
Hey look, it’s James Cybulski!
Turns out the Connected host has some ties to one of the best Canadian mixed martial artists in the UFC, current women’s bantamweight contender Sarah Kaufman.
Tanaka cools off Delorme…
Japan’s Michinori Tanaka put on a tactical, patient and skillful performance in his UFC debut as he handed Winnipeg’s Roland Delorme his second straight loss.
Tanaka, who is now a perfect 10-0 in MMA, landed 55 of 79 significant strike attempts and three of his five takedown attempts.
Delorme is one of the more exciting bantamweights in the UFC, but his aggression often gets him in trouble and that’s what we saw tonight. He only landed eight significant strikes in the 15-minutes bout because he was on his back for much of it.
Saggo shines in UFC debut…
Bolton, Ont.’s Jason Saggo improved to 10-1 as a pro as he put on an impressive display, defeating Josh Shockley by TKO with three seconds remaining in the first round of the opening bout of the evening.
“I love this country. This is an amazing life experience,” a patriotic Saggo exclaimed after his UFC debut.
All 10 of Saggo’s career wins have been by stoppage, but this was the just his second victory by TKO and his first his win over Keven Morin at Ringside MMA 12 in 2011.
The loss dropped Shockley’s record to 11-3. It was his first career loss by TKO; his other two losses were by submission.