Smartest Guy at the Bar: UFC 178 Edition

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After the cancellation of UFC 176 and a UFC 177 card that felt like it was held together by bailing wire and duct tape, UFC 178 is a welcomed savior. The MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday will host by far the best top-to-bottom event out of the four delivered by the Ultimate Fighting Championship in September; and what a month it has been. We saw the best UFC Fight Pass card (UFC Fight Night “Hunt vs. Nelson) in history and the worst UFC Fight Pass card (UFC Fight Night “Bigfoot vs. Arlovski 2) in history, along with a stellar UFC Fight Night “Jacare vs. Mousasi 2” event, thanks to the same-night pissing contest between the UFC and Bellator MMA. Cap it off with UFC 178, and we can kiss summer goodbye in style.

HOW WE GOT HERE: After Daniel Cormier threw his loafer at Jon Jones in the MGM Grand lobby, UFC 178 instantly went from a card stacked with talent and entertaining matchups to can’t-miss cage fighting. Even with “DC” and Jones pushed back to early 2015 because of an injury to the champion, the event stands out ... Demetrius Johnson defends his flyweight title against Chris Cariaso in the headliner. Hey, he needed to defend his belt against someone. This fight got airlifted from UFC 177 after Alistair Overeem rendered Jones’ leg worthless in training. That meant 178 needed a title fight. No one could have foreseen the Cariaso-Louis Smolka clash on May 10 in Cincinnati as a No. 1 contender’s match ... Donald Cerrone takes on former Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez in a lightweight co-main event. A knee injury forced Khabib Nurmagomedov out of this bout with “Cowboy.” Plan Bs are sometimes better than the originals ... Rounding out the top of the card, featherweight Conor McGregor swaggers into Las Vegas against the toughest opponent of his loud career in Dustin Poirier.

SILVER LININGS: Newly minted number one contender Cariaso is certainly a fine fighter -- he is on a three-fight winning streak and has only suffered three losses in his 10 UFC appearances -- but he represents another head-scratching title fight for the champion. After John Moraga went from the Facebook prelims at UFC 155 to a title fight, the UFC realized it needed contenders people recognized. Johnson’s last three title fights all came against fighters coming off of wins on televised main cards. That is a start. While no one will confuse the Johnson-Cariaso main event for Jones-Cormier, the switcheroo may help “Mighty Mouse’s” cause. The Ultimate Fighting Championship loaded UFC 178 top to bottom, and it is unquestionably the best card Johnson has ever headlined. If he cannot bring the masses on his own, the next best option is for the masses to come for something else, delivering an audience for him to wow. This is a great opportunity for the champion. Now he just needs to deliver and earn himself some repeat customers.

SAY WHAT: Alvarez traveled a rough road to the Octagon. While trying to get out of his contract with Bellator, or as UFC President Dana White calls it “over there,” the lightweight champion spent more time in litigation and twirling his thumbs than he did fighting. He has fought only once in two years, resulting in a controversial split decision win over Michael Chandler at Bellator 106 in November. With Alvarez approaching his 31st birthday, White is concerned he may have left some good years waiting on the sidelines; that is an interesting thing to say about a fighter in a potential No. 1 contender bout and a pay-per-view co-main event. “In my opinion,” White told UFC.com, “he’s lost a couple of the best years of his career because of what was done to him over there.”

RETURN OF THE KING -- AND POTENTIAL QUEEN: UFC 178 hosts the homecoming for two different bantamweight leaders. Former 135-pound champion Dominick Cruz finally returns to the Octagon after a slew of injuries and surgeries kept him limping on the sidelines since 2011. For perspective, Cruz’s last fight came in a win against current flyweight champion Johnson. “Mighty Mouse” has fought seven times since and put together the best flyweight resume in MMA history. In that same time span, Cruz had two surgeries and had his belt stripped for inactivity. It makes you wonder what might have been. He will face the surging Takeya Mizugaki in his return bout ... Cat Zingano’s sophomore effort in the Octagon comes nearly 20 months after her freshman effort, thanks to a knee injury suffered in October. Surgery and recovery kept the top-ranked bantamweight out of the Octagon. The 32-year-old missed out on the greatest opportunity in female combat sports when she was forced out of a coaching gig on “The Ultimate Fighter” and a title fight against Ronda Rousey. Facing the “Rowdy” one is life-changing. Zingano remains the best challenge to Rousey’s throne currently on the UFC roster. If she looks good against Amanda Nunes, we have ourselves a title fight.

HATING KENNEDY: Who would you rather face than an Olympic silver medalist and physical freak who is undefeated in the UFC? The answer: Everyone else. Yoel Romero is the one middleweight no one wants to fight. He is not yet ranked high enough to where a win catapults you to the top, but he is dangerous enough to make the risk-reward ratio equivalent to playing Three Card Poker drunk. Yet, Tim Kennedy faces the tough Cuban wrestler next. Style-wise, this is an atrocious fight for Kennedy. He will face a better wrestler who is ranked below him. For a grappler who relies on his top game, this looks like a tough one on paper. Kennedy recently had to get through Michael Bisping, a technical striker with great takedown defense, Roger Gracie, arguably the best jiu-jitsu artist in the world, and Rafael Natal. Once you add Romero to the mix, three out of Kennedy’s four UFC opponents will have posed a problematic style matchup for him. Whatever you did to Joe Silva, Tim, you might want to say, “I’m sorry.”

AWARDS WATCH: What do you do with Johnson, a top 10 pound-for-pound fighter about whom pay-per-view buyers do not seem to care? His surgically effective and technically brilliant style of fighting often results in one-sided, nip-tuck decisions. When he gets a finish, the UFC responds with relief instead of the usual “Hell, yeah!” He will finish Cariaso and earn a performance bonus … If the UFC was a carwash, it would have given McGregor the Super Deluxe Premium, complete with wax and tire shine. It loves the kid -- and rightfully so. If he gets past Poirier, the UFC will finally have a top 10 featherweight about which the masses can get excited. Expect the UFC to shower him with whatever bonuses are available … Alvarez- Cerrone is a no-brainer for “Fight of the Night,” even on a card with such high-action potential as UFC 178. Plus, the possibility of being able to call Cerrone the lineal champion of “the other guys’ promotion” is just too fun to pass up.