UFC 178 lineup announced, Dominick Cruz’s return headlines Fox Sports 1 prelims

MMA: UFC 174-Johnson vs Bagautinov

UFC 178 lost arguably the most anticipated light heavyweight title fight in the history of the sport when Jon Jones was injured in training and forced to withdraw from the main event fight against No. 1 contender Daniel Cormier.

The UFC opted to pull the flyweight title fight between the champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and unheralded contender Chris Cariaso that was initially scheduled as the co-main event for UFC 177, and placed it as the main event of UFC 178.

Regardless of the Jones’ injury, the UFC 178 event is still among the deepest pay-per-view events in recent memory. So much so that former bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz’s return to the Octagon after a nearly three year long injury layoff was relegated to the main event of the prelims.

Yesterday, the UFC bolstered the lineup even further when they announced the signing of former Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez, who will now fight the streaking Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in the UFC 178 co-main event.

Today the UFC unveiled the official UFC 178 lineup, and it is sure to whet the appetite of MMA fans around the world:

Main Card (PPV, 10 p.m. ET)

Demetrious Johnson (c) vs. Chris Cariaso – Flyweight championship
Eddie Alvarez vs. Donald Cerrone
Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier
Tim Kennedy vs. Yoel Romero
Amanda Nunes vs. Cat Zingano

Preliminary Card (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)

Dominick Cruz vs. Takeya Mizugaki
James Krause vs. Jorge Masvidal
Patrick Cote vs. Stephen Thompson
Brian Ebersole vs. John Howard

Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass, 7 p.m. ET)

Kevin Lee vs. Jon Tuck
Manny Gamburyan vs. Cody Gibson