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UFC 178: Johnson vs. Cariaso
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Published: 9/26/2014  at  3:34:00 AM
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UFC 178: Johnson vs. Cariaso

Saturday, Sept. 27 – 11:00 p.m. ET
Las Vegas, NV

Demetrious Johnson (20-2-1) vs. Chris Cariaso (17-5)

Flyweight title bout
Line: Johnson -1400, Cariaso +750

Demetrious Johnson looks to remain the champion as he puts his belt on the line against heavy underdog Chris Cariaso at UFC 178 on Saturday night.

In his last match on June 14, Johnson was able to defend his belt against Ali Bagautinov at UFC 174. In that fight, he showed his ability to wear out his opponent, eventually getting the win by way of unanimous decision after a pair of takedowns and an overwhelming 133 to 36 advantage in significant strikes. At 28 years old, Johnson is only beginning to enter the prime of his career, meaning the best for him is still in the future. He has not lost a match since falling by way of unanimous decision to Dominick Cruz on October 11, 2011, going 6-0-1 in his past seven fights. Johnson's combination of speed and quickness is as good as there is in the sport, but he can also throw punches while also submitting his opponent. Chris Cariaso enters Saturday on a three-fight winning streak, with his most recent victory coming against Louis Smolka in May. In that match, he was able to get a close win by way of split decision. He will enter this match with a lot of confidence, but has never faced anyone with the talent of Johnson. Look for Cariaso to come out ready to fight, but in the end, it will not make a difference, as the enormously favored JOHNSON is just too good and will win easily.

"Mighty Mouse" Johnson enters this match with 20 victories in his career, with nine of them coming by way of decision. He also has seven wins by submission, with another four coming by way of knockout. These two fighters are very close when it comes to landing significant strikes (3.68 for Cariaso and 3.54 for Johnson), but Johnson is much more accurate when it comes to throwing those strikes at 53%, compared to 45% for his opponent. However, it will be the grappling of Johnson that makes things very difficult for Cariaso. The Washington native has a takedown average of 3.29, compared to only 1.35 for Cariaso. This is where Johnson is so dangerous, because not only can he end a match with a submission, but he also has the cardio to wear his opponents down. If he is able to use his speed and cardio, then things will be very difficult for Cariaso to get the victory. However, if he is able to come into the fight and start striking with Johnson, then he may have a chance to pull off the monumental upset.

"Kamikaze" Cariaso has 17 wins under his belt, with 12 of them coming by way of decision. He also has three wins by knockout and two by submission. For the 33-year-old from San Francisco to get the victory, he is going to have to come out ready from the very beginning and keep this fight on his feet. Both of these fighters have shown the ability to defend against the takedown (66 percent takedown defense for Johnson and 62 percent for Cariaso). Cariaso has shown that he is a very skilled fighter, but he needs to have the fight of his career to get this victory.


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