It was the biggest win of his career.
Former Olympic hopeful Daniel Cormier has come a long way in the two years he’s dedicated to the world of mixed martial arts.
During that time, the world-class wrestler has been able to procure two titles, the King of the Cage and Xtreme MMA heavyweight titles, while simultaneously working his way up the ladder of the Strikeforce rankings.
This past Saturday, Cormier filled in for Alistair Overeem, who has since signed with the UFC, Strikeforce’s sister organization under the Zuffa banner. In Daniel’s way laid a huge stepping stone, literally, as the 5’11” AKA product took on Brazilian juggernaut Antonio “Big Foot” Silva.
Silva was clearly the bigger man, though Cormier packed the bigger hammer, as he used an impressive array of strikes to eventually secure the first-round knockout win over the Team Nogueira fighter.
The win moved Cormier into the finals of Strikeforce’s inaugural Heavyweight Grand Prix, which originally featured a batch of eight men fighting for supremacy. Now it’s just Cormier and Josh Barnett, a former UFC heavyweight champion who has since defeated both Brett Rogers and Sergei Kharitonov by way of arm-triangle choke, cementing his spot as the second finalist.
The tournament will now be shrouded in doubt, as Cormier confirmed via Twitter that he could be sidelined for an unforeseeable amount of time due to an injury sustained in his bout with Silva.
@dc_mma: Just got done seeing Dr. Hand is broken will be on the shelf 4 a while. Still looking forward to finishing tourney. Thx 4 support. DC
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker had hoped to complete the Grand Prix by the first quarter of the new year, though Cormier might have thrown a wrench in Coker’s plans. Only time will tell.
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