| UFC 178: Johnson vs. Cariaso | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 178: Johnson vs. Cariaso | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | September 27, 2014 (2014-09-27) | |||
| Venue | MGM Grand Garden Arena | |||
| City | Las Vegas,Nevada | |||
| Attendance | 14,544[1] | |||
| Total gate | $2.2 million[1] | |||
| Buyrate | 205,000[2][3] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 178: Johnson vs. Cariaso was amixed martial arts event held on September 27, 2014, at theMGM Grand Garden Arena inLas Vegas,Nevada.[4]
The event was supposed to be headlined by a UFC Light Heavyweight Championship rematch between championJon Jones andAlexander Gustafsson.[4] Jones won their first fight atUFC 165 by unanimous decision.[5] Gustafsson pulled out of the bout due to a torn right meniscus and lateral collateral ligament. He was replaced byDaniel Cormier on July 23.[6] However, on August 12, Jones was forced to pull out of the bout against Cormier citing a leg injury. The fight was rescheduled to take place atUFC 182.[7] As a result, aFlyweight Title fight betweenDemetrious Johnson andChris Cariaso was moved fromUFC 177 to headline this card.[8]
The event marked the return of former bantamweight championDominick Cruz, after nearly three years on the sideline, first with a coaching assignment onThe Ultimate Fighter 15, then with various lengthy injury rehabilitations. He was matched up againstTakeya Mizugaki.[9]
A lightweight bout betweenDonald Cerrone andKhabib Nurmagomedov was briefly linked to this event.[10] However, the pairing was cancelled after Nurmagomedov suffered a knee injury that sidelined him indefinitely.[11]
Jorge Masvidal andBobby Green were originally scheduled to face each other on this card.[12] However, on August 14, the UFC announced that Green would now faceDonald Cerrone and Masvidal would faceJames Krause.[13]
On August 19, following his release fromBellator MMA,Eddie Alvarez signed with the UFC and made his debut againstDonald Cerrone in the co-main event for the card.Bobby Green, Cerrone's earlier opponent, was booked for a future fight card against a new opponent.[14]
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Flyweight | Demetrious Johnson (c) | def. | Chris Cariaso | Submission (kimura) | 2 | 2:29 | [a] |
| Lightweight | Donald Cerrone | def. | Eddie Alvarez | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Conor McGregor | def. | Dustin Poirier | TKO (punches) | 1 | 1:46 | |
| Middleweight | Yoel Romero | def. | Tim Kennedy | TKO (punches) | 3 | 0:58 | |
| Women's Bantamweight | Cat Zingano | def. | Amanda Nunes | TKO (elbows and punches) | 3 | 1:21 | |
| Preliminary card (Fox Sports 1) | |||||||
| Bantamweight | Dominick Cruz | def. | Takeya Mizugaki | KO (punches) | 1 | 1:01 | [b] |
| Lightweight | Jorge Masvidal | def. | James Krause | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Stephen Thompson | def. | Patrick Côté | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Brian Ebersole | def. | John Howard | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card (UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Lightweight | Kevin Lee | def. | Jon Tuck | Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–26, 30–26) | 3 | 5:00 | [c] |
| Bantamweight | Manny Gamburyan | def. | Cody Gibson | Submission (guillotine choke) | 2 | 4:56 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses:[16]
The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to theNevada State Athletic Commission. It does not include sponsor money and also does not include the UFC's traditional "fight night" bonuses.[17]
