UFC 174: 10 Things To Look Forward To

UFC 174 poses an intriguing, yet unspectacular card on paper. That has been the common theme for pay-per-views in June in recent years. We€™ve seen the UFC focus on the Fourth of July weekend card, because it€™s one of the biggest weekends of the year. If you look at UFC 175, you can tell once again that they€™ve focused on making that card special. That leaves UFC 174 with far less star power and less appealing match-ups to casual fans. The main card is still relatively solid, which is headlined by one of the top pound for pound fighters in the world in Demetrious Johnson. He faces Ali Bagautinov, who has looked impressive in his UFC career so far. His wrestling and grappling excellence could prove to be Johnson€™s match. Rory MacDonald vs. Tyron Woodley remains a big matchup, despite it being removed as a number one contender€™s bout. We also get to see the surprise return of Andrei Arlovski, as he faces the quietly underrated Brendan Schaub. Ryan Jimmo is another Canadian that will be featured on the main card against Ovince St. Preux. This event may not be featuring blockbuster names, but it€™s a relatively solid card compared to past pay-per-views in June.

10. Demetrious Johnson Making His Case As Being One Of The Best Fighters In The World

After struggling to gain recognition for a majority of 2013, Demetrious Johnson is finally being accepted by all MMA fans. The flyweight division wasn't well-received by everyone at first. Some people thought the fights were ridiculous in featuring such smaller fighters. Now most people have gotten over that absurd theory and have started to embrace the flyweight division. That starts with Johnson, who captivated everyone in knocking out Joseph Benavidez with a right hook. The knockout silenced critics, who had believed that Johnson had "pillow fists" and couldn't knock out anyone. Now people are starting to label him as one of the top three fighters in the world. While he may not be a massive superstar, it's great to see him finally headline a pay-per-view. That's not taking anything away from headlining Fox shows because those are important events as well. It has been long overdue for him to be showcased as someone, who fans should pay to see. In his next challenge against Ali Bagautinov, we'll see him face the best wrestler in the division. We've yet to see Johnson get manhandled or look uncomfortable during his title reign, besides the first two rounds of his fight against John Dodson. It will come down to dictating the pace like he always does in determining his fate.