When Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier was pulled from UFC 178 in August, it was a devastating blow to an anticipated event. But that’s water under the bridge now because the show turned out to be one of the best MMA cards in recent memory.
The flyweight championship was on the line and a number of other bouts at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas had serious title implications.
Here’s a full rundown of UFC 178 with complete results, analysis, stats and reaction.
Mighty Mouse is a giant
This was a mismatch from the moment the fight was announced and Demetrious Johnson predictably made quick work of Chris Cariaso in the main event of an incredible card.
Johnson was virtually flawless on the feet and also took Cariaso down at will. In the second round, he locked in a fight-ending kimura to secure his seventh consecutive win and fifth straight title defence.
Cerrone spoils Alvarez’s debut
Longtime Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez came up short in his UFC debut, losing a unanimous decision to Donald Ceronne in an action-packed, three-round battle.
Alvarez came out strong and connected on 28 strikes in the opening round, but Cerrone was able to land powerful outside leg kicks in the final two rounds and began picking Alvarez apart; in total, he landed 82 strikes on Alvarez in the final 10 minutes.
Cerrone now has 12 wins in the UFC lightweight division, which sits him third on the all-time list behind only Gleison Tibau (15) and Jim Miller (13). Cerrone is now 4-0 in 2014 and has won five straight overall.
No luck of the Irish needed
There was nothing lucky about what Conor McGregor did at UFC 178. He said he would knock Dustin Poirier out in the first round and that’s exactly what happened.
The two came out slinging leather and McGregor clipped Poirier on the back of the ear with a left hand that dropped the American. McGregor followed up with hammerfists–several of which appeared to connect with the back of Poirier’s head–and referee John McCarthy called a stop to the fight.
McGregor’s ascension up the rankings has been drastic and impressive. Jose Aldo is set to defend his featherweight title against Chad Mendes at UFC 179 next month and there’s a strong chance McGregor will fight the winner.
“These featherweights don’t understand…when [they] get hit by me it’s a whole other story,” McGregor said.
McGregor only landed nine significant strikes.
Middleweight massacre
Strikeforce veterans and middleweight contenders Yoel Romero and Tim Kennedy put on a show. They went back and forth, throwing haymakers and scrambling until Romero was able to end the fight early in the third round.
The fight was not without controversy, however. At the end of the second round, Kennedy rocked Romero with a series of uppercuts but the Olympic silver medallist from the Sydney 2000 Summer Games was saved by the bell. When the third round was set to begin, Romero would not get off his stool and it appeared his corner attempted to stall, allowing Romero additional time to recover.
Early in the final round, Romero hit his opponent with a left-right combo that rocked Kennedy. He followed up and the fight was stopped.
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Ronda Rousey’s next opponent emerges
It certainly wasn’t the start Cat Zingano had envisioned–she absorbed perhaps the most ferocious ground-and-pound attack we’ve seen so far in the women’s UFC bantamweight division courtesy of Brazilian Amanda Nunes–but the unbeaten contender persevered to pick up a thrilling TKO win.
It was Zingano’s first fight in 17 months after an extended layoff due to knee surgery and the tragic death of her husband. Once she weathered the early onslaught from Nunes, Zingano took control of the fight by landing several beautiful front headlock suplexes, advancing to mount and finishing the fight with strikes in the third round.
In total, Zingano outstruck Nunes 93-36, but the key difference in the fight was Zingano going 3/3 in her takedown attempts.
Cruz returns in glorious fashion
It had been 1,090 days since Dominick Cruz last competed in the UFC, but he looked better than ever in a 61-second knockout of Takeya Mizugaki.
Cruz displayed majestic footwork and head movement before taking Mizugaki down with a double-leg and landing in side control. He then proceeded to fill his opponent with punches along the cage until the referee stepped in.
“Man, I’m still trying to take it in,” an elated Cruz said after the win. “I always knew I would be back because it was in my heart I wanted to be here, but man it’s been tough, I’m not going to deny that.”
Masvidal shows full arsenal
Jorge Masvidal has long been one of the best lightweights in MMA, but never seems to get the credit he deserves. At UFC 178, “Gamebred” used a mixture of crisp boxing and a variety of well-timed takedowns to picked up a one-sided, unanimous decision over James Krause.
Thompson picks apart Cote
Both Stephen Thompson and Patrick Cote have a history with former UFC champ Georges St-Pierre; Cote is longtime friends and former training partners with GSP, while Thompson often works with him at Tristar Gym. GSP has even said that Thompson is the best striker he’s ever trained with.
At UFC 178, Thompson put that high praise to good use as he picked up a unanimous decision over Cote.
The fight was surprisingly lacklustre–at least until Thompson dropped Cote late in the third round–considering both fighters have exciting styles and resumes full of highlight-reel knockouts.
Cote, who had a three-fight winning streak snapped, was unable to penetrate and land hard punches save for the odd looping right hand, as Thompson used his karate-style footwork to stay on the outside as he improved to 5-1 in the UFC.
Veteran welterweights go the distance
In a battle of wacky hair vs. wacky chest hair, John Howard and Brian Ebersole went the full 15 minutes with Ebersole taking home a split decision.
Both fighters stayed busy on the feet and on the ground, but were unable to land many damaging strikes or come close on any submission attempts.
“The night of a thousand junk kicks”
Kevin Lee defeated Jon Tuck by unanimous decision in the final UFC Fight Pass preliminary bout, but it wasn’t before each man tested the structural integrity of the other’s cup.
Lee outclassed Tuck throughout the bout to win his second consecutive bout and improve to 9-1 as a pro.
It was an impressive showing from Lee and a good learning experience for Tuck, however it was the frequent low blows that took the spotlight in this lightweight bout.
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Gamburyan calls out Caraway after big win
In his first fight at 135 pounds, former TUF 5 lightweight finalist and WEC featherweight title challenger Manvel Gamburyan overcame a hard low blow to submit 27-year-old Cody Gibson with four seconds remaining in round two.
Gibson had been controlling the fight up until getting caught in a fight-ending guillotine. It was Gamburyan’s first submission victory since a 2008 UFC Fight Night bout with Jeff Cox.
Gamburyan’s teammate Ronda Rousey celebrated with him in the cage after the win, as the Armenian-American took aim at Bryan Caraway–a UFC bantamweight that Ronda Rousey and her coaches dislike. Gamburyan even used a line made famous by Nick Diaz to make his point clear to Caraway.
Caraway is the boyfriend of Rousey’s rival Miesha Tate and the two camps developed bad blood while Rousey and Tate were coaches on TUF 18.