Filed under: Strikeforce, News
A visit to the doctor Monday confirmed Daniel Cormier‘s initial impression of a break in his right hand in his win Saturday against Antonio Silva in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinals in Cincinnati.
“Just got done seeing doctor,” Cormier wrote late Monday on his Twitter. “Hand is broken [and I] will be on the shelf for a while. Still looking forward to finishing the tourney. Thanks for the support.”
Cormier will likely have enough time to rehab and train without the need to delay the tournament final since his fight against Josh Barnett is being targeted for early 2012.
With that said, Coker said on Saturday he would consider a replacement if Cormier was out for an extended amount of time past first quarter of 2012.
In his upset win, the former Olympic wrestler Cormier floored the 6-foot-4 Silva twice in the fight before finishing with hammerfists at three minutes and 56 seconds. According to Cormier, he felt something was wrong right early in the fight.
“The very first right hand, man,” he told MMA Fighting after the fight. “The very first right hand I hit him on the chin, he went down, and I went to punch him and I felt my hand crack a little bit under me.
Cormier improved his record to 9-0 with his win over Silva, setting up a meeting with former UFC champion Barnett (31-5), who advanced the same night with a submission win over Sergei Kharitonov.