It's hard to believe that at one stage UFC 177 was the most highly anticipated card of the year.
A rematch between light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and the fighter that gave him his toughest test Alexander Gustafsson was the event's original headline act. When this got pushed back to the stacked UFC 178 card (prior to Gustafsson pulling out with injury), 177 lost a lot of its drawing power.
Another rematch was scheduled as a replacement. Dillashaw v Barao II.
TJ Dillashaw pulled off one of the greatest upsets in the sport's history when he defeated the seemingly invincible Renan Barao at UFC 173. Barao was riding a 32-fight winning streak before the rank outsider Dillashaw shocked the world and not only beat the champ, but absolutely annihilated him.
However, the rematch could not appeal with the drawing power of Jones v Gustafsson. The fact that Dillashaw was so dominant in his victory left some people questioning whether Barao deserved an immediate shot at the bantamweight belt.
A decent co-main was booked for 177, a flyweight title bout between Demetrious Johnson and Chris Cariaso. However, such is Johnson's dominance in the division that it didn't drum up any hype comparable to a light heavyweight grudge match. Still a title fight is not something to be sniffed at.
Then disaster struck. Jon Jones got injured. This bumped his fight off UFC 178 and pushed it back to next year, leaving a massive main event-shaped hole at 178 which needed to be filled. So, UFC 177 lost its flyweight title fight. A co-main between two unranked lightweights was its replacement.
Things got even worse for the "cursed" card just hours before the event was due to kick off. Renan Barao had complications with his weight cut and on the day of the weigh ins was admitted to hospital. The former champ, who was such a feared champion had lost his chance to redeem himself and claim back his belt.
Up stepped Joe Soto from the card's prelims to make his UFC debut for the bantamweight belt in the main event. The card was down it's biggest name, and he was being replaced by this relatively unknown fighter. This sparked a large proportion of the MMA community to write the entire event off as a joke, and to give it the title of one of the worst PPVs of all time, before it even took place.
Luckily for the UFC, something unexpected happened in Sacramento on Saturday night. The card that caused so much uproar actually turned out to be quite good. Only one fight on the main card went the distance with three ending by strikes and one finishing with one of the most unusual submissions you'll ever see.
Soto, the late addition to the main event, was not only competitive throughout the bout but he put up a better fight than Renan Barao did at 173. He went over four rounds with the champ before he got stopped, a remarkable feat considering he had trained to go three rounds on the night. His immediate future in the promotion is secured, despite the loss.
Dillashaw was also validated as a champion. The Team Alpha Male product put on another striking masterclass against Soto, very impressive since he had prepared for another war against the flat-footed Barao who has completely contrasting style to the quick, counter-striking Soto. Dillashaw had all the pressure to perform on Saturday night and he did so in style, returning home with the belt.
The "uninteresting" co-main between Tony Ferguson and Danny Castillo turned out to be a tactical chess match and for once, the UFC judges actually scored the close fight correctly. The split decision went to Ferguson even though Castillo was fighting in front of a home crowd. Yancy Medeiros produced a magnificent submission to kick off the main card proceedings and Carlos Ferriera and Bethe Correia cam away with stellar finishes to thrust both of them closer to contender status.
The card that nobody gave a chance, surpassed everyone's expectations.
