Now that everyone has cried and cursed the injury gods, let’s start thinking about the unexpected change at the top of UFC 178 rationally for a minute.
Yesterday, news broke that light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones suffered an injury that would push his much-anticipated clash with challenger Daniel Cormier back to UFC 182 on Jan. 3, 2015. Simultaneously, the UFC announced the UFC 177 flyweight title fight between Demetrious Johnson and Chris Cariaso would move back a month and serve as the new headliner.
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There is no way to sugar coat the Jones injury news: it sucks and presses pause on what was sure to be one of the best buildups to a fight in some time. As much as the rivalry is still heated, the extra three months between last week’s fracas in Las Vegas and these two actually getting in the Octagon together will cool expectations and dampen the anticipation some.
Additionally, the flyweight title bout between Johnson and Cariaso doesn’t carry anywhere near as much heat and intrigue as the fight it is replacing, but that doesn’t mean that all is lost.
As recently as 10 minutes prior to the Jones news breaking, the consensus was that UFC 178 was a loaded fight card–a throwback to the stacked lineups of yesteryear and a show everyone had to see. Though there has been a downgrade at the top of the marquee, that doesn’t have to mean all is lost and we should abandon ship on the Sept. 27 fight card.
While the removal of the Jones-Cormier fight is a nasty blow, this could be the opportunity the UFC needs to put a ton of energy into showcasing Johnson and for “Mighty Mouse” to start getting recognized for being the dominant force that he is.
At UFC 174–a card he headlined in Vancouver that didn’t get many buys–the argument was the rest of the card surrounding him wasn’t strong enough to prompt people to order the pay-per-view. Making that argument now would contradict everything that has been said and written about UFC 178 prior to Tuesday. A fight with the relatively anonymous Cariaso isn’t the ideal matchup to have headlining in this type of situation, but the flyweight champ is legitimately one of the most well-rounded fighters in the sport today and that should be the focus, not who he is fighting.
Everything that was great about this card outside of the main event from before Jones’ injury was announced is still in place: Conor McGregor is still facing a serious step up in competition against Dustin Poirier, Dominick Cruz and Cat Zingano are still making their respective returns, and the solid middleweight and lightweight contender bouts are still booked.
So instead of declaring that all is lost and lamenting our collective bad luck, why not start getting behind a guy that has absolutely owned the competition in the flyweight ranks for the last two years and offer him some support?
There is no greater indication to me that fight fans actually prefer drama and trash talk more than technique than the plight of the 20-2-1 flyweight champion who hasn’t lost since dropping a unanimous decision to Cruz at bantamweight nearly three years ago. If he were 185 pounds, Johnson would be heralded as a brilliant technician that demonstrates the true artistry of mixed martial arts and the fact that no one can come close to beating him would be a feather in his cap, not a knock against him like it is now.
After all, it’s not like he’s the first and only champion in UFC history to blow the opposition out of the water. Fans flock to Ronda Rousey fights even though she operates on another plane of existence compared to her competition, and Anderson Silva made countless challengers look like they were fighting Neo from The Matrix before the Brazilian ran into Chris Weidman last year. But because Johnson is five-foot-three and fights at 125 pounds, that makes his situation different?
Rather than focusing exclusively on the downgrade at the top of the UFC 178 lineup or fixating on the poor numbers his last headlining effort drew, this is a golden opportunity to talk Johnson up for once.
He’s now attached to a tremendous fight card and his performances in the Octagon have been outstanding, so instead of flooding the Internet with negativity and criticism about a fighter that currently sits at No. 4 in the official UFC pound-for-pound rankings, this next month could be spent discussing how Johnson is the only reigning champion to have defeated everyone ranked in the Top 5 in his weight class or talking up the fact that he’s gotten demonstratively better in each of his last four fights since winning the title.
Burying Johnson isn’t going to undo the injury to Jones–all it does it throw shade on a fight card everyone was drooling over two days ago. In an industry where so many people seem fixated on what kind of numbers PPV events and televised fight cards do, it seems counterintuitive to me to just hammer away at the negatives non-stop as if there is no longer anything redeemable about this event.
Johnson is an otherworldly talent that doesn’t get nearly enough praise and credit for what he has accomplished in the Octagon. Regardless of buy rates and ratings, his track record in the cage can’t be challenged and his skill level is amongst the highest in the sport today.
UFC 178 now represents an opportunity to put those things in the spotlight and sing the praises of the first and only flyweight champion in UFC history as he steps up to headline what was and still is a phenomenal collection of fights.