Daniel Cormier sent a clear message to Jon Jones—both audibly and in the ring—as he beat Anthony Johnson to claim the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 187 on Saturday evening.
The American recovered from a stuttering start to seize the 205-pound crown at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, scoring a submission victory in Round 3. Afterward, Cormier made his intentions clear, calling out the man who was stripped of the title back in April.
Here's a recap of the action from Nevada and the full results from an engrossing evening at UFC 187.
Full UFC 187 Results
UFC 187 Main Card
Daniel Cormier def. Anthony Johnson, submission (Round 3, 2:39)
Chris Weidman def. Vitor Belfort, TKO (Round 1, 2:53)
Donald Cerrone def. John Makdessi, TKO (Round 2, 4:44)
Andrei Arlovski def. Travis Browne, TKO (Round 1, 4:41)
Joseph Benavidez def. John Moraga, unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Prelims on Fox Sports 1
John Dodson def. Zach Makovsky, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Dong Hyun Kim def. Josh Burkman, submission (Round 3, 2:13)
Rafael Natal def. Uriah Hall, split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Rose Namajunas vs. Nina Ansaroff—CANCELLED
Prelims on UFC Fight Pass
Colby Covington def. Mike Pyle, unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Islam Makhachev def. Leo Kuntz, submission (Round 2, 2:38)
Justin Scoggins def. Josh Sampo, unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Cormier Makes His Intentions Clear
This was a real classy display from Cormier. In the initial stages, it looked as though Johnson—who initially dominated with his jab and thunderous right crosses—was set for another early stoppage win, as he dictated the tempo and pushed his opponent back.
But the second round saw Cormier haul himself back into contention. His fundamental skills came to the fore as the pace slowed, with a superior work rate allowing him to manufacture an edge over his opponent.
As noted by Jay Glazer of Fox Sports, DC did brilliantly to reestablish himself in the fight after being put down by Johnson in the early stages:
Eventually, the tempo set in the second round by Cormier was decisive. In the third round, he was a step ahead of Johnson, who was a little lethargic after being on the end of plenty of punishment in the second stanza, and eventually locked in a rear-naked choke to prompt a submission from Johnson.
Here are the crucial statistics following Cormier's win, per Jason Floyd of The MMA Report:
DC really earned this one.
A less obdurate fighter would have yielded after the flurry of early pressure from Johnson, but he regrouped and stood triumphant eventually. However, as we can see here courtesy of SportsCenter, Cormier has quickly turned his attentions to Jones:
It'd certainly be intriguing to see the pair square off again. Jones beat Cormier via a unanimous decision back in January, proving far too good for DC on the night. But there was plenty from the new champion in this bout to suggest he could make a better fist of things the second time around.
Nonetheless, Kevin Iole of Yahoo thinks Jones remains in a league of his own:
Earlier on the UFC 187 bill, Chris Weidman enriched his burgeoning reputation with a brilliant display against Vitor Belfort. The champion retained his UFC middleweight championship with a first-round technical knockout win over the Brazilian.
Weidman staved off an early flurry from Belfort before finding his groove. The Brazilian flew out of the traps, drawing blood from the champion with some brutal uppercuts. But after scoring a confident takedown and subsequent ground-and-pound, there was no way back for Belfort, and the bout was waved off.
As noted here by Brett Okamoto of ESPN, Belfort was the latest illustrious Brazilian to fall to defeat against Weidman—who has now won all 13 of his professional bouts—and thoughts will now turn to a potentially enticing fight against Luke Rockhold further down the line:
The win also saw Weidman extend his increasingly impressive winning streak in UFC:
Rockhold has won his last four fights inside the scheduled distance, and like Weidman, he marries a technical skill set with entertaining stylistic principles. It'll be a brilliant spectacle, and the fact that Rockhold was beaten by Belfort back in 2013 adds another intriguing dynamic to what would be a must-watch matchup.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com
No comments:
Post a Comment