Daniel Cormier did what everyone expected tonight in the Strikeforce cage and dominated Dion Staring, with perhaps the only surprise being that he didn’t finish him in the first round.
Cormier was able to land a few good takedowns in the first round, and also landed a big right hand during a stand-up exchange that clearly hurt Staring, though he took it and the flurry that followed it well.
Cormier slowly chipped away with his ground and pound on the mat too, but didn’t go at hit hammer and tongs so the fight progressed to the second round.
A nice trip gave Cormier the opportunity to work again from top control early in the second and there was more of a sense of urgency about his work now as he looked for the finish.
A few times a potential submission presented itself, but Cormier seemed a little gun-shy in that regard and instead looked for ground and pound instead. Some shots landed, but Staring was tough and wasn’t looking for an easy way out so Cormier ended up having to let fly with a flurry of big shots before the referee finally stepped in and called an end to the fight by TKO at 4.02mins of the second round.
So Cormier gets the win at a measured pace. Given the caliber of the opposition it’s not a victory that’s going to have fans shouting from the rooftops about an immediate title shot in the UFC, but rest assured that he’s going to be mixing it up in the upper reaches of the heavyweight division from the word go.
