UFC 174: Johnson vs Bagautinov
Demetrious Johnson’s good deeds were rewarded with the top spot on a PPV event when he took on relatively-unknown Russian grappler Ali Bagautinov in June 2014. But the impressive performances and nationwide exposure failed to translate to box office drawing power.
That’s because UFC 174 only did 95,000 to 115,000 PPV buys, which made it the lowest level of PPV interest for a UFC event in the “modern era” of MMA.
To add insult to injury, it was revealed that Bagautinov tested positive for Recombinant Human Erythropoietin, a hormone that controls red blood cell production. He was slapped with a one-year suspension.
