The two UFC champions competing at UFC 187 also claimed Performance of the Night bonuses with their victories Saturday night. They also each earned $50,000 for their efforts at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In the main eve…
The two UFC champions competing at UFC 187 also claimed Performance of the Night bonuses with their victories Saturday night. They also each earned $50,000 for their efforts at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In the main event, Daniel Cormier claimed the vacant UFC light heavyweight title by submitting Anthony Johnson in the third round via rear naked choke. Cormier, though, had a shaky start as he was dropped with a thunderous overhand right from Johnson. The former Olympic wrestler was able to scramble to his feet and claim the occasional front head lock or even a cradle, but it was Johnson who did all the significant damage.
By the second round, things began to change. Johnson’s striking was still potent, but Cormier was able to get Johnson against the fence and from there, pick him off the ground and slam him to the mat. He spent the rest of the round on top in Johnson’s half guard, battering ‘Rumble’ with elbows and short punches as well as a kimura attempt. When the round expired, Johnson was helped to his feet by his corner and seemed noticeably winded.
Both fighters were tired by the third round, but it was Cormier who used Johnson’s forward aggression to wrestle him back to the mat. Cormier forced Johnson to turtle position where he leaned on him, landed strikes and the eventual fight-ending submission. The time came at 2:39 of the third round.
In the co-main event of the evening, Chris Weidman defending his middleweight title against Vitor Belfort by stopping ‘The Phenom’ with strikes from mount. Things weren’t so smooth early as Weidman ate a barrage of strikes from the Brazilian that were set up when Weidman over committed on a takedown attempt. Still, the American weathered the storm and eventually pulled Belfort to the mat with a double-leg takedown. From there he quickly passed to mount and unleashed a punishing array of punches and elbows. Belfort briefly gave his back before turning back into Weidman, but that only made things worse. Referee Herb Dean stopped the contest at 2:53 of the first round.
And winning Fight of the Night is a heavyweight contest between former training partners and current friends Andrei Arlovski and Travis Browne. Arlovski got to work right away, uncorking a right that Browne leaned into, rocking ‘Hapa’ badly. Still, Browne survived that and another devastating punch minutes later. A third flurry, though, put Browne’s back against the cage and while he nearly seemed finished, he landed a right hand that dropped Arlovski. Browne tried to finish him in a scramble, but was too dazed to do much of anything effectively. Arlovski managed to stand back up and drive two hard, uncontested rights down the middle, prompting a referee stoppage at 4:41 of the first round.
The two UFC champions competing at UFC 187 also claimed Performance of the Night bonuses with their victories Saturday night. They also each earned $50,000 for their efforts at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In the main eve…
The two UFC champions competing at UFC 187 also claimed Performance of the Night bonuses with their victories Saturday night. They also each earned $50,000 for their efforts at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In the main event, Daniel Cormier claimed the vacant UFC light heavyweight title by submitting Anthony Johnson in the third round via rear naked choke. Cormier, though, had a shaky start as he was dropped with a thunderous overhand right from Johnson. The former Olympic wrestler was able to scramble to his feet and claim the occasional front head lock or even a cradle, but it was Johnson who did all the significant damage.
By the second round, things began to change. Johnson’s striking was still potent, but Cormier was able to get Johnson against the fence and from there, pick him off the ground and slam him to the mat. He spent the rest of the round on top in Johnson’s half guard, battering ‘Rumble’ with elbows and short punches as well as a kimura attempt. When the round expired, Johnson was helped to his feet by his corner and seemed noticeably winded.
Both fighters were tired by the third round, but it was Cormier who used Johnson’s forward aggression to wrestle him back to the mat. Cormier forced Johnson to turtle position where he leaned on him, landed strikes and the eventual fight-ending submission. The time came at 2:39 of the third round.
In the co-main event of the evening, Chris Weidman defending his middleweight title against Vitor Belfort by stopping ‘The Phenom’ with strikes from mount. Things weren’t so smooth early as Weidman ate a barrage of strikes from the Brazilian that were set up when Weidman over committed on a takedown attempt. Still, the American weathered the storm and eventually pulled Belfort to the mat with a double-leg takedown. From there he quickly passed to mount and unleashed a punishing array of punches and elbows. Belfort briefly gave his back before turning back into Weidman, but that only made things worse. Referee Herb Dean stopped the contest at 2:53 of the first round.
And winning Fight of the Night is a heavyweight contest between former training partners and current friends Andrei Arlovski and Travis Browne. Arlovski got to work right away, uncorking a right that Browne leaned into, rocking ‘Hapa’ badly. Still, Browne survived that and another devastating punch minutes later. A third flurry, though, put Browne’s back against the cage and while he nearly seemed finished, he landed a right hand that dropped Arlovski. Browne tried to finish him in a scramble, but was too dazed to do much of anything effectively. Arlovski managed to stand back up and drive two hard, uncontested rights down the middle, prompting a referee stoppage at 4:41 of the first round.
This is the UFC 187 live blog for Chris Weidman vs. Vitor Belfort, a middleweight bout at Saturday night’s UFC event at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.Weidman, who is 10-0 in his career, will face Belfort, who has won four of his past five fight…
This is the UFC 187 live blog for Donald Cerrone vs. John Makdessi, a lightweight bout at Saturday night’s UFC event at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.Cerrone, who has won seven straight fights, will face Arlovski, who has won four of his past f…
Cerrone, who has won seven straight fights, will face Arlovski, who has won four of his past five fights, on the main card.
Check out the UFC 187 live blog below. Round 1: Jason Herzog is the referee. Both fighters open orthodox. Cerrone scores right away with a hard outside leg kick. And another. Cerrone goes high and clips Makdessi in the head, twice. Makdessi is still in this, but he’s already being picked apart. Cerrone now back on the front leg in and outside. Makdessi lands a body jab. Cerrone drives forward with a 1-2, but mostly misses. Makdessi with a nice jab and body kick, but eats a hard jab. Cerrone chases down a right straight and gets it. Two outside leg kicks from Cerrone. The two clinch and Cerrone shoves him off just long enough to score a jab.
MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Cerrone
Round 2: Cerrone scores with three consecutive punches and the two exchange leg kicks. Cerrone scores again with a one-two, this time followed by a knee. He lands an outside leg kick, but eats a jab from Makdessi. Left hook from Makdessi, but he eats another outside leg kick. Makdessi lands another left after Cerrone scores with an outside leg kick. Also a knee lands for Cerrone. Good jab, too, from Makdessi. Driving elbow from Cerrone lands, then another inside the clinch. At the end of a combo, Cerrone lands a head kick to the face. Makdessi tries to call time out, so referee Herzog waves it off. That’s the fight. It appears Makdessi has a broken jaw.
Donald Cerrone def. John Makdessi via TKO (fighter surrender) at 4:44 of round 2
This is the UFC 187 live blog for Joseph Benavidez vs. John Moraga, a flyweight bout at Saturday night’s UFC event at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.Benavidez, who has won four of his past five fights, will face Moraga, who has won three of his …
If there are UFC customers upset or otherwise dismayed at the absence of Jon Jones or Khabib Nurmagomedov from this card, they are well within their rights to be so. And if there’s anything fans are entitled to do, it’s act as a de facto qua…
If there are UFC customers upset or otherwise dismayed at the absence of Jon Jones or Khabib Nurmagomedov from this card, they are well within their rights to be so. And if there’s anything fans are entitled to do, it’s act as a de facto quality control service by providing consumer feedback in the form of pay-per-view sales…or lack thereof. None of this behavior is out of bounds.
However, the UFC deserves a bit of a break here. Jones’ malfeasance got him removed from the card. Nurmagomedov’s aggro training forced John Makdessi to step in. Neither of these problems are the UFC’s fault. More to the point, when injuries or other unforeseen circumstances reduce card quality, we expect the UFC to make a genuine effort at makings substitutions as good as possible while ensuring the rest of the card is palatable. Stack the cards, we say, so in the event of change there’s still a lot to like.
That’s precisely what’s happened here. In a world of too many cards, too many injuries and too many substitutions, the UFC has nevertheless managed to put together a card that withstood athlete misbehavior and the ongoing injury epidemic. If that’s not a test of quality, nothing is. We can’t ask for the UFC to be perfect or to benefit from unreal luck. What we can ask, however, is that they put together a product that meets the common standard of excellence even when things don’t go right. If they deserve criticism when they fail to do so, they equally merit praise when it happens.
At stake: proof that second chances are real. All of the talk about this fight centers on the absence of Jon Jones. That’s understandable, but forces a turn away from a surprising new narrative that emerges: this fight is about the fulfillment of second career chances. The most interesting part is that no matter who wins, the narrative becomes real.
It’s actually more of a last chance for Cormier, but it is his second crack at UFC gold. After failing to earn the achievements he desired in college and the international freestyle wrestling circuit, he turned to MMA for athletic pursuits. He fell short against Jones in January, but gets another chance to right the ship. Maybe it won’t mean the same thing because it’s not Jones who he is defeating, but his name will still be forever be listed as one of men who earned a UFC title during their careers. If there’s an asterisk there, it’s a small one.
For Johnson, this is what his years-long reformation project has been all about: finding the right camp, the right weight division, the right attitude and the right focus. Everything seems to be aligned, putting him in the best position yet to actualize his dreams. He doesn’t get the chance to prove how real his turnaround is either since he’s not fighting Jones, but like Cormier, we’ll see how much that matters if his name is ultimately preceded by ‘UFC light heavyweight champion’. That designation has a way of changing people’s perspectives about its meaning and value very quickly.
At stake: a TRT referendum. There’s obviously quite a bit up for grabs here, not least of which is the UFC middleweight title. For Belfort to capture it would mean he put himself along with very short company of those who’ve won two UFC titles in two different weight classes. It’d also likely signal that whatever the legitimate medical need of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), the performance-enhancing benefits would all be worth it. His capturing of the title wouldn’t be on the back of TRT, but his run to it certainly would. If he wins tonight, who could argue that despite a tarnished reputation, use of TRT wasn’t worth it? That may be an ugly truth to accept, but not all facts are pretty.
For Weidman, he’s made this about a grudge match where he’s the enforcer cracking down on drug abusers. I’m not sure that’s the appropriate position for a champion to be taking, but it’s one he’s adopted for the purposes of this fight. He’s made this fight a testament to real meritocracy, a contest where he believes Belfort has no chance. He’s trying to turn this fight into a measurement of hard-earned authentic ability. That also means he wants to dish out a cruel finish befitting a person who, in his mind, is a fraud waiting to be exposed and deserving of extra punishment. There’s a seething anger underlying Weidman’s efforts, all of tied to a perceived chance at payback for taking what was never theirs to begin with.
At stake: a title shot or reputation solidification. Should Cerrone win, I expect him to get a title shot, if for no other reason than he’s marketable, well liked by the fan base and at the front of the queue in a process of contender elimination. If he somehow loses to Makdessi, however, he’ll solidify some of the sneaking suspicions about him that he’s the guy who beats all the other guys except The Guy. Even earning a title shot won’t necessarily fix that, but a loss to Makdessi makes it mostly official.
At stake: a return to the top 5. This one is fairly straightforward. Both fighters have had their downs, but of recent, a fair amount of real ups. They both hover outside of the top 5, which means the winner here is all but guaranteed to move into that position. What happens after that is anyone’s guess, but this turnaround would be particularly impressive for someone like Arlovski, a fighter who was all but forgotten after losing to Anthony Johnson in World Series of Fighting.
At stake: real flyweight title implications. You’d be hard pressed to give either guy a fight with the champ after a win here. After all, both have already lost to Demetrious Johnson, and rather spectacularly so. Still, the title has to be defended and that means it needs contenders, wherever they can be found. Chances are the winner of John Dodson vs. Zach Makovsky is more likely to get the next crack, but it’d be foolish to assume both of these fighters are simply wasting their time on a bridge to nowhere. They’re still not fully out of the hunt.
