Daniel Cormier made his long awaited Octagon debut tonight (Sat., April 20, 2013), as Frank Mir welcomed him to the big leagues in the co-main event of the UFC on Fox 7: "Henderson vs. Melendez" event at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. The bout represented Cormier's first true test on the big stage under the bright lights and could very well make him the next top contender in the heavyweight division.
Cormier was dominant in round one but decided not to rest on his laurels and opened up his offense with a big flying kick to start round two. It took everyone by surprise, even if it didn't come anywhere close to landing.
Hey, at least we know he's capable of it.
Instead, the bout went back to the fence, where Cormier clinched up and pushed Mir against the fence. Interestingly enough, the size advantage Mir thought he had that would help carry him through actually appeared to be more Cormier's favor.
Or at least he was using leverage better, having his way with Mir physically.
They finally reset and Mir got the chance to work his striking a bit more but Cormier stayed patient and landed the cleaner shots, though that wasn't much.
Still, through two, he was well ahead on the score cards.
For complete results from each round of Mir vs. Cormier click here, and for complete UFC on Fox 7 results and blow-by-blow coverage of all the night's action click here.
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