UFC 174: Demetrious Johnson beats Russian and defends flyweight belt; Beans are defeated

The Russian Ali Bagautinov was brave, but the American Demetrious Johnson showed who's boss in the UFC's flyweight division. In a balanced fight, decided in detail in each round, Demetrious defended his reign for the fourth time in the organization. The duel was the main attraction of UFC 174, an event held this Saturday night (14), in Vancouver, Canada.

The event's fight program also featured two Brazilians in action who were defeated. In the main program, Rafael Feijão was dominated by Ryan bader and lost in a unanimous decision by the judges. Already preliminary card, another Brazilian left the octagon defeated. Daniel sarafian was surprised by the Japanese Kiichi Kunimoto and was finished with a rear naked choke.

Johnson vs Ali Bagautinov

The fly category is known for its intense movement and mind-boggling fights. But Demetrious Johnson and Ali Bagautinov did not follow this line and had a tepid duel, without great moments. However, quite balanced and very strategic.

Bagautinov came in willing to avoid Demetrious's movement. In one of the champion's attacks, he reached the clinch, placed Johnson against the bars and attempted a takedown. The North American defended himself well and struck with knees, which even without force scored points. The champion was taken to the ground only in the final moments, but with no time for the Russian to work.

In the second round, Johnson returned more active, landed blows and managed to escape his rival's clinch game. However, in the third round the fight was tied again. Demetrious worked on speed, but ended up fighting against the bars again. In the final half, Bagautinov got the belt and applied a nice takedown, but did not stabilize the position, and Johnson got back to his feet

History repeated itself in the fourth and fifth rounds. Johnson trying to control the distance and striking in the clinch, while Bagautinov, despite controlling the position against the bars, was just trying for a takedown and wasn't aggressive.

In the end, victory Demetrious Johnson with a 50×45 triple. “I'm the king of this category and I'm going to keep knocking down everyone who comes to face me”, said the champion still in the octagon.

Feijão is dominated by Bader and loses in the decision

It wasn't this time that Rafael Feijão managed to score his second UFC triumph. Ryan bader He used a well-designed strategy and better physical conditioning to dominate the fight and win by unanimous decision from the judges.

Without taking any chances in striking with Rafael, Bader kept the fight at medium distance and entered the range of action only to suffer a takedown. After attacking the Brazilian's legs, the North American was unable to keep his rival on his back, but he added points and wore Feijão down. In a second attempt, Ryan took down the Tupiniquim athlete again and ended up passing guard, releasing strong blows against the rib.

In the second round, history repeated itself. Bader avoided striking and only shortened his stance to try for a takedown, almost always successfully. On one of the occasions when he was knocked down, Feijão tried to get up and gave way. The North American took advantage and landed more blows.

With a disadvantage in the fight, Feijão went for all or nothing in the third round. The Brazilian came out hunting, landed good strikes in his striking and avoided Bader's takedown attempts. After avoiding one of the entries, Rafael tried a guillotine with the American on all fours, but to no avail. Even so, he landed good shots.

Despite the good start, the Brazilian was unable to maintain the pace of the fight. After managing to recover from the blows received, Bader closed the distance in the clinch, reached the takedown and dominated his rival on the ground until the end of the fight.

In the end, the three side judges scored the victory for Ryan bader by 30×27

Arlovski returns to UFC with contested victory

the return of Andrei Arlovski to the octagon was controversial. The former heavyweight champion, who hadn't fought in the UFC since 2008, fought an apathetic fight against Brendan Schaub, but even so he came away with the triumph, which was highly contested by his rival. After two rounds with little action, Schaub took the initiative in the last part. The TUF 9 finalist landed good blows, took him to the ground and kept Pitbull on his back for a long time.

At the end of the regulatory 15 minutes, Andrei Arlovski derrotou Brendan Schaub in the judges' split decision (29×28, 28×29, 29×28).

Check out the complete UFC 174 results below:

main card

Demetrious Johnson defeated Ali Bagautinov by unanimous decision of the judges;

Rory McDonald x Tyron woodley in the unanimous decision of the judges;

Ryan bader derrotou Rafael Feijão in the unanimous decision of the judges;

Andrei Arlovski derrotou Brendan Schaub in the judges' split decision;

Ovince St Preux defeated Ryan Jimmo by forfeit in R2;

Preliminary Card

Kiichi Kunimoto submitted Daniel sarafian with a rear naked choke in R1;

Valerie Letourneau defeated Elizabeth Phillips via split decision;

Yves Jabouin defeated Mike Easton via unanimous decision;

Tae Hyun Bang defeated Kajan Johnson by knockout in R3;

Michinori Tanaka defeated Roland Delorme via unanimous decision;

Jason Saggo defeated Josh Shockley via TKO in R1;