Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight champion Daniel Cormer battled former Middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva last night (Sat., July 9, 2016) at UFC 200 inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
While Cormier was undoubtedly frustrated by losing his opportunity to knock Jon Jones down a peg, the show must go on. Luckily, the UFC quickly found a pretty solid replacement in Silva, giving Cormier another chance to defend his title.
Meanwhile, Silva had a massive opportunity on his hands, even if he wasn’t properly trained for the occasion. If "The Spider" could pull off the upset, he would likely be in a position to fight for the strap at either Middleweight or Light Heavyweight.
It didn’t take long for Cormier to walk his opponent backwards with kicks and land an easy takedown. Cormier immediately began chipping away at his opponent from within the guard before moving into half-guard.
From that position, Silva used the lockdown and overhooks to control Cormier and limit the amount of damage the Olympian could do. However, Cormier was still able to open up in the final minute and land some solid blows on "The Spider."
The first round was all "DC."
Silva opened up with lots of kicks and knees, but Cormier quickly caught one and dumped Silva to his back. Working from the half guard once more, Cormier attacked with elbows and sought to isolate the arm in a kimura grip.
With about 90 seconds remaining, the fight was stood up after a slight lull in the action. Rather than look for a takedown, Cormier was content to trade with Silva for a bit, and both athletes landed some hard blows.
Silva needed a finish in the third to win.
After another big exchange to start the round, Cormier made the decision to dump his opponent onto his back again. Once more, Cormier did some light ground striking from half guard prior to being stood up with two minutes remaining.
Silva used one of those minutes to take a breather before going on the aggressive. He managed to hurt "DC" with a body kick, but Cormier tied his opponent up and jammed him against the fence until the end of the round.
It was enough to win him the bout, but it was hardly impressive.
Cormier really didn’t do all that much in this fight. He was the far superior wrestler and used that to his advantage, allowing him to control the fight.
However, Cormier never really opened up with his ground strikes. Had he taken some chances and given his foe some space, Silva may have been able to stand up.
But, Cormier may also have been able to do real damage.
Additionally, Cormier somehow gassed out pretty hard despite being in complete control for much of the fight. Had it been a five round fight opposite Jon Jones, it’s hard to see Cormier doing well.
Regardless, Cormier is the champ and continues his win streak.
Considering the fact that Silva fought a weight class higher than usual against the champion on something like three day’s notice, it’s hard to really critique his performance. It was a rough match up to begin with, but Silva did his best to make something happen.
On the feet, Silva fought well. He realized that he couldn’t afford to waste any opportunities, kicking hard and often. Plus, each time Cormier threw a hard punch, Silva stood his ground and tried to make a big counter land.
It wasn’t his night, but he took a chance and helped saved the card following the Jones catastrophe.
Last night, Daniel Cormier out-wrestled his Anderson Silva en route to an easy decision win. How long can Cormier hold onto his title?
For complete UFC 200: "Tate vs Nunes" results and play-by-play, click HERE!