Despite the absence of Jon Jones, UFC 187 lived up to its billing as a plethora of top-10 fighters took to the Octagon at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
In the main event, Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson went head-to-head to become the new light heavyweight champion.
In the middleweight class, Chris Weidman sought to continue on the path to becoming UFC champion by defending his belt against Vitor Belfort.
Here’s a complete breakdown of the results, as well as a closer look at Saturday’s top fights and how the pros are reacting to the action.
Cormier Becomes the Champion
Cormier beat Johnson by submission to give UFC its first new light heavyweight champion in over four years.
It was Rumble who had the better of the fight early on, using his jab and a low hard kick to put Cormier on the back foot from the off. Even an eye poke from DC and the resulting stoppage could not break Johnson’s momentum, and Rumble floored Cormier with an overhand right cross.
Cormier found his feet, though, and used Johnson’s aggressive start against him, closing in to lift Rumble with a rear waistlock and slam him to the ground.
DC put Johnson in a headlock thereafter, but Rumble responded well with a couple of head kicks and a right hand, and the round ended with the fighters grinding along the fence.
The second round was much stronger for Cormier, who withstood a vicious kick to the head before again successfully lifting Rumble and throwing him to the floor.
Cormier kept Johnson floored for the remainder of the round, attempting a Kimura before using some hard elbow strikes to daze the struggling Rumble.
Johnson started positively again in the third round, taking DC down for the briefest of periods before hitting him with two strong rights.
It was all for naught, though, as Cormier took Johnson again, taking his back and using his weight to exhaust his opponent before finishing the fight with a rear-naked choke.
Fighters Sara McMann and Henry Cejudo were full of praise for Cormier:
Kevin Lee was less impressed:
According to MMAMania’s Alex Schlinsky, Cormier called out Jones after the fight, saying “Jon Jones… I’m waiting for you.”
Ryan Bader responded to Cormier’s challenge to Jones with one of his own via his official Twitter account (tweet contains NSFW language).
Bader could well be the next opponent for Cormier before any potential rematch with Jones.
If Cormier can overcome Bader, his rematch could be more competitive than their one-sided bout at UFC 182.
Weidman Defends His Title for the 3rd Time
Weidman’s match with Belfort may have lasted less than three minutes, but it was packed with thrills.
Belfort came out firing on all cylinders, avoiding two head kicks from Weidman before ferociously blitzing his opponent with a left hand, elbows and a vicious right hook.
Weidman withstood the assault, however, and countered with a brutal takedown, striking Belfort with punch after punch and elbow after elbow, unrelenting in his barrage until the referee called an end to proceedings with Belfort completely helpess.
Weidman’s impressive performance garnered praise from fellow pros, including Anthony Christodoulou and James Krause:
Weidman’s impressive unbeaten record continues with the win, and the 30-year-old could look to take on strong contender Luke Rockhold in the near future.
Whomever Weidman takes on next will have a serious fight on their hands.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com