UFC 187 went down last night, May 23, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, and supplied some memorable outcomes.
In the main event, replacement opponent Daniel Cormier snatched the UFC Light-Heavyweight title upon his second attempt at the crown after it was stripped from the troubled Jon Jones.
Cormier took on top contender Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson in a riveting contest that saw Cormier hit the canvas in the first round following a connection from ‘Rumble’s’ right cross.
The power of Johnson’s strikes seemed as threatening as ever, but he was unable to land the all important blow as Comier looked to grind down his opponent against the fence with short shots.
The two juggernauts exchanged headkicks in the second round, and Cormier sought salvation with another forceful takedown; the former Olympic wrestler picked up his opponent and dumped him in the center of the octagon before drowning Johnson with ground-and-ground and kimura attempts.
Johnson appeared fearful of becoming stuck on the ground once again, and came out for the third round in search of his own takedown. The Blackzilian trained fighter was unable to gain control of his AKA trained counterpart and the back-and-forth struggle to secure a takedown resulted in Cormier taking the back of his opponent and sinking in a rear-naked-choke.
In the co-main event, the long awaited Middleweight Championship fight between challenger Vitor Belfort and reigning champion Chris Weidman finally reached its climax, and was over in less than three minutes.
The Brazilian challenger sought to surprise the American with a classic ‘Phenom’ assault. The 38-year-old’s plan seemed effective with a powerful, high volume rush of combination punches that had Weidman on the back foot and unable to throw back. However, the 30-year-old champion survived the onslaught a secured a trademark takedown. This marked the beginning of the end for Belfort as Weidman passed his opponent’s half guard and into mount from where he rained down fists again and again until the referee finally acknowledged that Belfort was sufficiently not defending himself.
Also on the card, fearsome striking expert Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone took another step towards his own long awaited title shot with an eighth consecutive victory. Canadian underdog John Makdessi went head-to-head with Cerrone in a competitive striking based encounter until Cerrone connected with a brilliant two-shot combo, landing a leg kick followed by a headkick with the same leg that appeared to break the jaw of his opponent, forcing ‘The Bull’ to call it quits.
Andrei Arlovski made a huge statement and most likely shook off an undeserved ‘glass jaw’ reputation by coming out on top after an insane heavyweight clash with Travis Browne. The former UFC champion hunted Browne over and over, dropping his opponent before hitting the deck himself, only to survive his opponent’s ground-and-pound and resurface to plant an uppercut followed by right hook that had Browne out on his feet.
John Moraga opened the card against perennial Flyweight contender Joseph Benavidez. While underdog Moraga remained competitive through the contest, he was unable to a stamp on the fight with the seasoned Benavidez taking all three rounds in what was a good fight.
Former Flyweight title challenger John Dodson returned from what was almost a year out of action. Having knocked out Moraga himself back in June of 2014, he out-pointed Zach Makovsky to take a unanimous decision win.
UFC 187 full results:
Vacant UFC Light-Heavyweight Championship: Daniel Cormier def. Anthony Johnson Submission (rear-naked choke) 3 2:39
UFC Middleweight Championship: Chris Weidman (c) def. Vitor Belfort TKO (punches) 1 2:53
Lightweight: Donald Cerrone def. John Makdessi TKO (retirement) 2 4:44
Heavyweight: Andrei Arlovski def. Travis Browne TKO (punches) 1 4:41
Flyweight: Joseph Benavidez def. John Moraga Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) 3 5:00
Flyweight: John Dodson def. Zach Makovsky Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) 3 5:00
Welterweight: Dong Hyun Kim def. Josh Burkman Submission (arm-triangle choke) 3 2:13
Middleweight: Rafael Natal def. Uriah Hall Decision (split) (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) 3 5:00
Welterweight: Colby Covington def. Mike Pyle Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 29-28, 30-27) 3 5:00
Lightweight: Islam Makhachev def. Leo Kuntz Submission (rear-naked choke) 2 2:38
Flyweight: Justin Scoggins def. Josh Sampo Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) 3 5:00
