Daniel Cormier came into Strikeforce’s heavyweight GP semi-final fight as an alternate, stepping in for Alistair Overeem and he immediately proved that he belonged there by produced the biggest upset of the tournament so far, knocking out Antonio Silva.
Despite being at a huge reach and height disadvantage Cormier was willing to trade with Silva straight away and it immediately paid off when he dropped him with a big overhand right.
Silva recovered quickly though and Cormier thought better of following the BJJ black belt onto the mat so the fight returned to the feet where the wrestler picked up where he had left off, continuing to find a home for his punches and appearing to stun ‘Bigfoot’ with each one.
Realizing that he needed to change things up quickly Silva attempted a takedown, but Cormier stuffed it easily and they are again back on the feet.
Not for long though as Cormier then caught a kick from Silva and slickly swept his other foot out from under him. Again Cormier preferred to keep it standing rather than risk going into his guard – a wise decision given his dominance in the striking department.
The writing looked on the wall for the Brazilian and the end came swiftly as Cormier fired off a huge uppercut that sent ‘Bigfoot’ crashing straight down to the mat followed by a couple of hammerfists for good measure to secure the KO victory.
And with that Cormier arrives as a major player in the heavyweight scene and secures a place in the final of Strikeforce’s GP which will take place in early 2012.
