Daniel Cormier was able to utilize his wrestling ability to repeatedly take down Anderson Silva and wear him down on the mat tonight at UFC 200 to earn a unanimous decision victory.
Round One:
Silva circles to start. Cormier tries a head kick that misses. Silva with a leg kick. High kick again for Cormier.
Cormier closes the distance and reaches down for the takedown, landing it successfully. That’s not good news for ‘The Spider’.
DC works some ground and pound from inside Silva’s closed guard. Cormier stacks Silva up against the cage. Cormier settles in again, this time in half guard. He lands some solid elbows. DC has a sizeable weight advantage here as Silva came in less than the 205lb limit.
Solid body punches from Cormier. Two minutes of the round remaining. Elbow to the face for DC. Now some punches. No real chance for Silva to work a submission or a sweep with DC being so heavy on top.
A minute remaining and DC’s just staying busy enough to keep the ref from standing them up, but not pouring on the offense to try to find a finish.
He lands a few elbows. Grinding work from the light-heavyweight champion. Body punches landed as the round comes to a close. Silva slow to get back up.
Round Two:
Silva with a switch kick to the head. Solid right hand from Cormier. Head kick attempt from Silva, and then a big knee.
Silva with another knee, but that allows DC to set up a takedown in the middle of the Octagon. Working from half guard DC lands some grinding ground and pound. Based on the first round it’s going to be a long few minutes for Silva with little hope of getting back up again.
A few right hands to the head land for Cormier. Silva doing his best to tie up Cormier to stifle his offense. Body, body, head for DC. A brief lull and then he mashes in some short elbows.
Not much happening and the ref stands them up. Silva up slowly. He lands a leg kick. Superman punch. Cormier connects with a right hand that gets his opponents attention.
Nice knee for Silva. A few punches for him as he tries to show some of the old magic despite being fatigued. Body kick for Silva. Cormier marches forward and throws strikes to get into the clinch against the cage.
Final 10 seconds of the round and Cormier just rides it out in the clinch.
Round Three:
A hug from the two fighters to start the final round. Silva pumps out the jab and then lands a right hand. Nice leaping kick from him.
Cormier connects with a right hook. Silva takes it though and continues to stay offensive. Unfortunately for him, DC is then able to get in on another solid takedown and is back into that half-guard position.
Cormier using all his weight on Silva. He lands a single elbow. Not much happening so Silva will be hoping for another stand-up if he can hang in there.
A few body punches from DC. Ref hovering nearby. Elbow strike to the head misses. Half the round remaining. Body, head work from Cormier to keep the fight grounded.
Big John McCarthy’s seen enough and stands them up. Again Silva is up slowly. 90 seconds to go. Silva shakes his arms out. Both men hovering around each other.
Cormier just misses with a left hook. Leg kick for the champ. Another from him and one in reply from Silva. Nice jab for Silva.
leg kick for Cormier. Silva starts to bounce on his feet. He comes forward with a left hand. Big body kick from Silva hurts Cormier. He comes charging in looking for a flying knee, but Cormier is able to clinch up and stays there ticking down the final seconds of the round.
Silva’s team hoist him up in the air to celebrate, not neccessarily a win, but simply for having the balls to come in on 48hrs notice and survive against the light-heavyweight champion for three rounds.
Decision:
Cormier dominated the fight with his stifling wrestling and he claims the unanimous decision victory (30-26 x3).
Unfortunately the fans boo DC which is unfair under the circumstances. There’s a great reception for Silva though who came in on just 48 hours notice only a few months after having gall-bladder surgery.
