Demetrious Johnson’s next title challenger has been determined and it’s a bit of a surprise.
Might Mouse is set to defend his flyweight belt against Chris Cariaso at UFC 177, the promotion announced late Tuesday.
Cariaso (17-5) is a talented striker that has won three straight in the UFC, but is coming off a split decision in May and has never defeated a top-10 flyweight. The 33-year-old holds wins over Louis Smolka, Danny Martinez and Iliarde Santos, but has lost to higher ranked competitors Jussier Formiga and John Moraga.
John Dodson was expected to receive the next shot at Johnson, but a recent knee surgery will keep him on the shelf until 2015. Add that to the fact tickets for the event went on sale Wednesday and fellow contenders Zach Makovsky, Formiga, Brad Pickett, Ian McCall, John Lineker are currently tied up in upcoming bouts and the UFC elected to give Cariaso a chance.
Cariaso is currently positioned as the No. 8 contender in the official UFC fighter rankings. His most notable victory was a unanimous decision over bantamweight veteran Takeya Mizugaki in 2012 when Cariaso used to compete in the 135-pound division.
Johnson (20-2-1) is coming off a unanimous decision win over Ali Bagautinov at UFC 174 in Vancouver on June 14. The champ has defended his title four consecutive times and won six straight overall.
UFC 177 takes place Aug. 30 at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento and is headlined by a bantamweight title rematch between T.J. Dillashaw and Renan Barao.
This event will mark the first time in nearly two years that Johnson is not the feature attraction. After being crowned the UFC’s inaugural 125-pound champion when he defeated Joseph Benavidez in the co-main event of UFC 152 in September 2012, the 27-year-old headlined three consecutive UFC on FOX events before UFC 174, which was the first pay-per-view event he headlined. Although his performance was dominant, the PPV buy rate for the Vancouver event was well below average.
Here is the tentative UFC 177 lineup to date:
— T.J. Dillashaw vs Renan Barao
— Demetrious Johnson vs Chris Cariaso
— Tony Ferguson vs Danny Castillo
— Lorenz Larkin vs Derek Brunson
— Bethe Correia vs Shayna Baszler
— Ramsey Nijem vs Carlos Diego Ferreira
— Yancy Medeiros vs Justin Edwards
— Ruan Potts vs Anthony Hamilton
