Demetrious Johnson vs. Chris Cariaso Booked For UFC 177 Co-Main Event
The upcoming UFC 177 pay-per-view event on August 30 from Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, California will now feature two title fights as Yahoo! Sports has confirmed that Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and Chris Cariaso will square off for the 125-pound title in the evening’s co-main event.
The surging Johnson was last seen dominating Ali Bagautinov in the first-ever UFC flyweight main event at the largely derided UFC 174 on June 14. Like UFC 177’s main event rematch participants TJ Dillashaw and Renan Barao, “Mighty Mouse” will make a quick turnaround to face Cariaso, but this time, he won’t be forced to carry an event.
The No. 8-ranked Cariaso is on a three-fight win streak, his most recent being a UC Fight Night 40 victory over Louis Smolka. “Kamikaze” has turned it around since suffering two straight defeats to No. 5-ranked John Moraga and No. 6-ranked Jussier Formiga. He was originally slated to face Kyoji Horiguchi at the upcoming UFC Fight Night 52 in Japan, but now he’s been booked in the biggest fight of his career.
If you’re wondering why Johnson is facing such a low-ranked opponent, it’s because he’s essentially cleaned out his division. After defeating No. 4-ranked Bagautinov, Johnson owns wins over all of the Top 5-ranked fighters in his division, including two each over Joseph Benavidez and Ian McCall.
The champ was supposed to be gearing up for a rematch with No. 1-ranked John Dodson, but those plans fell apart when “The Magician” was forced out with a torn ACL.
Formiga has a bout scheduled against up-and-coming prospect Zack Makovsky at UFC Fight Night 47 on August 16, and No. 7 John “Hands of Stone” Lineker made weight and will face Alptekin Ozkilic at tomorrow night’s (July 16, 2014) UFC Fight Night 45 from New Jersey.
It’s clear that Johnson wants to defend his belt again soon, but pitting him against a bottom-level Top 10 fighter like Cariaso isn’t going to do anything to quiet the substantial criticism of the UFC flyweight division. What are your thoughts on the booking?
Photo: Anne-Marie Sorvin for USA TODAY Sports
