'Mighty Mouse' Johnson wins UFC bout

Demetrious Johnson is the kingpin of the UFC's lightest division. But the skills he brings into the Octagon are the reason why pound-for-pound discussions tend to favor the little guys.

The fighter known as "Mighty Mouse" has lapped the competition at flyweight. The Kirkland, Wash.-based Johnson made the fourth defense of his 125-pound championship look like an easy sparring session on Saturday night (Sunday, PHL time).

Johnson blended speed, footwork and precise striking to cruise to victory over Dagestan's Ali Bagautinov in Vancouver, British Columbia, winning the main event of UFC 174 via unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout 50-45 in favor of the champion.

"I'm the king," said Johnson (20-2-1). "They can come and try to knock me off, but I'm going to stay the king."

Bagautinov (13-3), who took an 11-fight win streak into the bout, is known for his punching power. But Johnson moved in and out and the challenger often found himself swinging at air.

Johnson darted in and out, landing punches and evading counterstrikes. When they did get in close, Johnson landed knees and elbows in the clinch.

By the time the final rounds rolled along, Johnson looked like he was just getting warmed up and Bagautinov looked like he had been through a battle.

Johnson is 10-1-1 in the past four years and has been champion since the weight class was instituted in 2012. His only loss during that span was to then-bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz on 2010.





The co-feature bout brought the crowd to its feet. British Columbia native Rory MacDonald came home and posted a one-sided victory over Tyron Woodley of St. Louis in a key welterweight showdown.

MacDonald, who trains in Montreal, received 30-27 scores from all three judges for a unanimous decision.

MacDonald (17-2) used a complex attack, pushing forward, mixing the angles on his punches and throwing kicks for good measure. This seemed to fluster Woodley (13-3), a straight-ahead power puncher who backpedaled for much of the fight.

In the third round, MacDonald put the icing on the cake by taking down Woodley, a former collegiate wrestler, and holding him there.

"Everything went exactly the way we planned it," MacDonald said. "We knew that he had big power and I thought he would come out swinging at the beginning of each round. My goal was to defend the takedown and try to get a few of my own when I got the opportunity."

Arizona light-heavyweight Ryan Bader put on one of the most impressive performances of his career with a one-sided victory over former Strikeforce champion Rafael Cavalcante.

Bader fluidly mixed up his wrestling and striking to shut down the lethal striker. Bader won via unanimous decision, receiving 30-27 scores from all three judges.

Bader, a former Arizona State wrestler, used he wrestling to dictate the flow of the fight. When he got Cavalcante to the ground, he worked him over with a mix of punches to the head and knees to the body. In round three, the Brazilian Cavalcante (12-5, one no-contest) came out swinging, but rather than get goaded into a brawl, Bader kept his composure and reinstituted his wrestling game the rest of the way.

"I had to make it an ugly fight tonight and wrestle him," said Bader (17-3), winner of three of his past four fights. "I was able to stick to the game plan."

Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski was victorious in his first UFC fight in six years, although the decision was certainly debatable.

Arlovski, a Belarussan by way of Albuquerque, came away with a split decision against Colorado's Brendan Schaub in a heavyweight fight. Arlovski was favored 29-28 on two of the three scores for the victory.

The fight was a tentative affair, with neither getting anything close to a finish. In the third round, Schaub's face began swelling in a grotesque manner, likely indicative of a broken jaw, although it wasn't clear where the injury occurred.

The 35-year-old Arlovski (22-10), who held the title in 2005-06, won for the fifth time in his past six fights. It was his first UFC bout since March 2008.

Schaub (10-3) had a two-fight win streak snapped.

"It feels so good to be home," Arlovski said. "The reception I got from the fans was incredible. It felt so great to be welcomed and appreciated by them after so long."

The main-card opener came to an awkward halt when Ryan Jimmo suffered a broken right arm in his light-heavyweight fight against Ovince St. Preux. St. Preux was winning the fight in the second round and working Jimmo over on the mat when Jimmo started yelling that his arm was broken. It took the referee some time to step in and break up the fight.

After the bout, it remained unclear even on replay where exactly the break occurred. St. Preux (16-5) won his fourth straight fight and Jimmo (19-4) has dropped two of three.

"I'm still young in the sport and I'm improving all the time," St. Preux said. "I have a lot to learn and every fight can't be perfect." - Reuters