UFC 174: Flyweight Demetrious Johnson Headlines! 4/10/2014

The UFC 174 card scheduled for June 14th, in Vancouver Canada will be headlined by the flyweight title bout between Champion Demetrious Johnson and Ali Bagautinov.  The card also has announced a high voltage welterweight tilt between Tyrone Woodley and Rory MacDonald.  For Johnson, it will be the fourth defense of the Flyweight title, while Bagautinov is 3-0 in the UFC and is on an 11 fight winning streak.  The Woodley-MacDonald match-up is a fight between two of the UFC’s top young prospects in the welterweight division, and both could use a win to possibly propel them into top contender status.  let’s look at the match-ups before the lines hit the sport books.

Johnson is certain to be a favorite for the match with Bagautinov.  Johnson has been nearly flawless since dropping to 125 lbs, and he may in fact be underrated on pound for pound lists.  Bagautinov has made a good transition to the UFC, though his early record had a lot of finishes against unknown competition, he has gone into the 3rd round in every fight in the UFC.  This however, is a five round fight which is new territory for Bagautinov, while Johnson is already proven.  Gas is unlikely to be a problem with this weight class, but managing pace and stealing rounds if the fight goes long all favor the experienced Johnson.

The welterweight bout is a very interesting one.  Woodley’s stock was on the rise, and there was call for a title shot after his last win saw him overcome Carlos Condit, whereas MacDonald has been in the title hunt for a while now, but has strung together 3 unimpressive performances in a row.  This fight should be a toss up when it comes tot he lines,with possibly MacDonald getting a little bit more respect because he has inhabited the top of the division longer.  Woodley still has his defeat to the recently jettisoned Jake Shields to balance out the elation of his win over Condit, but it is Woodley who really needs to add another top name to his resume.