Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images Hyperbole runs rampant in professional mixed martial arts. Every card needs to be the first, or the best, or the most stacked in order to engage exacting fans who expect nothing but the greatest fights ever. Cards without big names are easily dismissed by the paying public, who lambast promotions for their attempts at growth. But sometimes, just sometimes, the most unsuspecting events deliver some of the most surprising and exciting results.
Which is exactly what happened at UFC 177. I mean, seriously, when else have you seen, or even heard of, a finish by reverse guillotine choke? How often does an event’s finish to decision ratio come out to 3:1? Rare-to-never. And that’s why UFC 177 may go down as the most underrated Pay Per View card of all time; at least the most unsuspecting of 2014. This August has been one of the unluckiest months in recent memory for the UFC. Forced to cancel UFC 176 just weeks prior to the event, the promotion found itself in hot waters, pulling a Pay Per View card for just the second time in history.
Things seemed to look up, however, as light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and challenger Daniel Cormier exchanged in one of the more memorable out-of-competition brawls, providing antics that at least kept MMA fans entertained while the promotion weathered a difficult month. But it was all for naught, as Jones suffered a training injury a week after his press conference fisticuffs with DC, prompting the UFC to supplant a flyweight title fight between Demetrious Johnson and Chris Cariaso, originally intended to co-main event last night’s card, to the UFC 178 headliner. Suddenly, the UFC 177 lineup looked depleted, and cries of “worst card ever” came trolling through blogs and forums, irate MMA fans calling for Dana White’s head as if the UFC stole their first born.
The decimation of the UFC 177 fight card was met with drastic and dramatic disdain. But surely a bantamweight title fight between T.J. Dillashaw and Renan Barao would provide sufficient fireworks to warrant a 60-dollar buy-in; no matter what your thoughts of the immediate rematch scenario, the contest would be worthy of a Pay Per View headliner. And then Renan Barao blacked out while cutting weight, and the whole card came crashing down.
Judge Not Lest Ye Be Foolish: UFC 177 Delivered
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