Jones Injury Windfall Leads To Tony Ferguson vs. Danny Castillo As UFC 177 “Co-Headliner”
The news left UFC 178, perhaps the best card of the year, without a main event. The UFC quickly announced that a flyweight championship bout between Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and Chris Cariaso would be moved from the UFC 177 co-main event to the main event of UFC 178.
This left August 30’s UFC 177, which is headlined by a rematch between champion TJ Dillashaw and Renan Barao, without a co-main event and looking very depleted. According to MMAJunkie.com, the UFC announced that lightweights Danny Castillo and Tony Ferguson would compete in the co-main event of UFC 177. Although these are two talented fighters, neither of them is ranked and this match-up does not seem co-main event worthy.
Going from a second title fight in the co-main event to this fight has caused a bit of uproar among UFC fans, and an understandable one at that. Obviously another title fight could not have been made or even another “big” fight to replace Demetrious Johnson vs. Chris Cariaso, but there may have been some better options. For example, Scott Jorgensen is competing on the prelims against UFC newcomer and former Olympian wrestler Henry Cejudo. Scott Jorgensen may be on a bit of a downfall, but he has gone up against the best of the best and is a very well known fighter. Putting Jorgensen against an Olympic athlete could make for a great fight.
Another prelim bout that, in my opinion, should be on the main card is Derek Brunson vs. Lorenz Larkin. These two men also may not be superstars, but they have both faced tough competition and are solid fighters.
These two fights may also not be co-main event caliber, in my opinion they would be better choices than Castillo vs. Ferguson, who, with no disrespect intended, are simply not big names in today’s crowded 155-pound landscape.
Personally, I think this change has made UFC 177 a very lackluster card and one that may not even be pay-per-view (PPV) worthy with the exception of the main event. Will you still be dropping sixty dollars to watch this card?
The official UFC 177 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
Champ T.J. Dillashaw vs. Renan Barao – for bantamweight title
Danny Castillo vs. Tony Ferguson
Shayna Baszler vs. Bethe Correia
Ruslan Magomedov vs. Richard Odoms
Carlos Diego Ferreira vs. Ramsey Nijem
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)
Derek Brunson vs. Lorenz Larkin
Justin Edwards vs. Yancy Medeiros
Henry Cejudo vs. Scott Jorgensen
Anthony Hamilton vs. Ruan Potts
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 7:30 p.m. ET)
Anthony Birchak vs. Joe Soto
