UFC 187 is just a day away. The stacked fight card will be made official today, as the 24 fighters tip the scale to make weight.
Two titles are up for grabs in Las Vegas. Anthony Johnson and Daniel Cormier headline the event for the vacant UFC light he…
UFC 187 is just a day away. The stacked fight card will be made official today, as the 24 fighters tip the scale to make weight.
Two titles are up for grabs in Las Vegas. Anthony Johnson and Daniel Cormier headline the event for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title, and Chris Weidman defends his middleweight crown against VitorBelfort in the co-main event.
Those two premiere bouts are just the tip of the iceberg. Nine more top-10 fighters help fill out the fight card. Bleacher Report will be here to bring you all the happenings coming out of Vegas, and the weigh-ins begin at 7 p.m. ET.
Come back to see if everyone is on weight for Saturday’s spectacular event.
UFC 187 Fight Card
UFC Light Heavyweight Championship: Anthony Johnson vs. Daniel Cormier
UFC Middleweight Championship: Chris Weidman vs. VitorBelfort
It occasionally seems like becoming UFC champion is the worst thing that could ever happen to a professional MMA fighter.
It may be the biggest prize in the sport, but there is mounting evidence that UFC gold is bad for your health. Take Saturday night…
It occasionally seems like becoming UFC champion is the worst thing that could ever happen to a professional MMA fighter.
It may be the biggest prize in the sport, but there is mounting evidence that UFC gold is bad for your health. Take Saturday night’s UFC 187 for example, where Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson will vie to become light heavyweight champion only after the last light heavyweight champion’s life imploded.
If this were an isolated incident, you could just blame it on Jon Jones’ personal issues and move on. In truth, however, this weekend marks the third time since the beginning of 2014 that the UFC has had to crown a new champion under somewhat ugly circumstances.
It started with Georges St-Pierre’s public breakdown in the wake of his hard-fought UFC 167 victory over Johny Hendricks in November 2013. Seven years on top of the welterweight division had clearly taken their toll on the French Canadian phenom, and after he officially began an indefinite sabbatical from MMA in December of that year, it took three months to set Hendricks up with a bout against Robbie Lawler for the vacant title.
On January 6, 2014, just 24 days after St-Pierre announced his departure, the UFC also had to strip bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz in order to promote RenanBarao to “undisputed” titlist. Barao had been carrying around the “interim” championship for a year-and-a-half, so the change wasn’t necessarily earth-shattering, but just four months after his official promotion he dropped the strap to T.J. Dillashaw.
These days, the UFC is even having trouble getting Barao and Dillashaw together for a rematch. And Cruz? Let’s just say the narrative thread was lost a long time ago.
The most trying character of the bunch is Cain Velasquez. The heavyweight champion’s perennially injured status and the borderline cursed nature of the 265-pound title in general are both well-worn tropes for MMA fans. Velasquez’s on-again, off-again career trajectory finally became too much for UFC executives to bear last November, when they opted to put an interim title on Fabricio Werdum for defeating Mark Hunt at UFC 180.
Velasquez and Werdum are scheduled for a unification bout next month, and conventional wisdom says Velasquez could get stripped outright if he somehow doesn’t make the date.
And so, you see: All in all, there has been a lot of turmoil at the top.
The end of Jones’ reign as 205-pound kingpin was the most unceremonious of all, and the result may be a historically inauspicious start for either Cormier or Johnson.
We suspected all along that Jones would ultimately have to slip the knife between his own ribs—he’d been too dominant as champion for anyone else to do it. Cracks were long visible in his personal life, and they became chasms after a positive test for cocaine went public in the wake of his UFC 182 win over Cormier.
But Jones always seemed like too much of a control freak to lose the handle completely, so his April arrest on felony hit-and-run charges made for a surprising denouement. The UFC had little other choice than to put him on company-mandated timeout. Public scrutiny had simply grown too hot, too pointed.
Now, though, his absence puts Cormier and Johnson in an equally tough spot.
Cormier comes in as the favorite on paper and in most peoples’ hearts. The likable former Olympian is the kind of guy everybody wants to see succeed, but Jones just ran over him in January. That alone makes D.C.’s standing as a potential champion seem dicey.
Johnson, meanwhile, spent much of the lead-up to this fight mired in a domestic violence scandal of his own making. UFC President Dana White has not exactly painted himself as the most enlightened fellow on the subject during his own media appearances this week, either. Now, we’re all just holding our breath, waiting to see how the notoriously irascible company would handle the public relations quandary of Johnson becoming champ.
No matter which of them gets the belt wrapped around his waist at the end of Saturday night, there are going to be significant complications. It will be difficult to accept either guy as the light heavyweight’s new standard-bearer.
We’re accustomed to simpler, more linear storytelling in fight sports, so we’ll all just be waiting for Jones to return and reclaim the top spot—or legitimize the new champion with his blood.
It’s nobody’s fault. We’re just used to neat-and-tidy outcomes and resolutions free of ambiguity. It’s unfair to hang those expectations on Cormier, obviously, and Johnson’s considerable baggage is part of a more important but different discussion.
At this point though, it’s hard to ignore the instability at the top of the UFC pecking order. The cases of Velasquez and Cruz remind us of the physical toll of being the best, while Jones’ and St-Pierre’s expose the psychological pitfalls that await, as well. It’s one thing to get to the top—by any means necessary, in this sport—but it’s another thing entirely to stay there.
Meanwhile, Cormier and Johnson stand as examples that, when a great champion leaves or is forced out, you can’t just pick up where he left off.
There’s a lot of history to inherit along with that title, and not all of it is pretty.
UFC 187 will feature four of the most dominant fighters in the world today. Anthony Johnson, Daniel Cormier, Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort will be featured in the main and co-main event, respectively. Johnson and Cormier will do battle to lay claim t…
UFC 187 will feature four of the most dominant fighters in the world today. Anthony Johnson, Daniel Cormier, Chris Weidman and VitorBelfort will be featured in the main and co-main event, respectively. Johnson and Cormier will do battle to lay claim to the vacant light heavyweight title, while the long-awaited matchup between Weidman and Belfort serves as an explosive and unpredictable middleweight championship bout.
Anthony Johnson vs. Daniel Cormier
Despite the way in which the light heavyweight championship came about (the stripping of Jon Jones’ title after being involved in a hit-and-run incident), many believe the new main event will live up to expectations. In fact, Johnson believes Cormier presents a greater challenge than the former 205-pound champion in Jones.
Per Mike Bohn and John Morgan of MMAjunkie, Johnson stated:
I really mean (this is a tougher fight). This is DC’s second chance. When people get second chances, they tend to go a little bit harder. He’s going to come at me like a bulldog and I expect that. The fact that I expect it means it won’t surprise me with anything he brings. I know what I’m getting myself into and so does he.
UFC 187 will mark Cormier‘s second chance at the light heavyweight title, leaving no doubt that he will be “hungry” in his sophomore attempt to secure gold.
Chris Weidman vs. VitorBelfort
The Weidman-Belfort matchup is highly anticipated among the world of mixed martial arts. The middleweight champion stands without a loss and defeated one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time in Anderson Silva (twice) in the process. Weidman is motivated to remain undefeated, and according to MMA Weekly, he has expressed interest in setting himself apart from the rest of the division.
My goal every time is to separate myself in the division and make a statement for the world, prove to myself where I think my abilities are, prove to my coaches what they think. So, I’m coming to this fight to make a statement. I’m doing this fight to look for a finish.
However, Belfort, with over 19 years of MMA experience, brings a wealth of knowledge to the Octagon and is 10-2 in his last 12 matchups (only having lost to then-champions Silva and Jones). He is a formidable opponent, and at 38 years old, the Brazilian fighter may be looking at his final championship title opportunity at UFC 187.
The following highlights each fighter’s keys to victory in their attempt to secure or maintain championship gold this Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Second chances are few and far between at the highest level of any sport, and Daniel Cormier’s shot at redemption appeared when he least expected it.
The former Olympic wrestler was preparing for his June 6 bout with Ryan Bader at Fight Night 68&…
Second chances are few and far between at the highest level of any sport, and Daniel Cormier‘s shot at redemption appeared when he least expected it.
The former Olympic wrestler was preparing for his June 6 bout with Ryan Bader at Fight Night 68 when word came from UFC brass that he would step in to fight for the suddenly vacant light heavyweight title due to a legal situation created by Jon Jones.
Back in January, the American Kickboxing Academy representative Cormier had been handed the first loss of his professional career when he faced the pound-for-pound phenom at UFC 182. Cormier figured it would it would take a few wins before he was able to get another shot at the light heavyweight strap.
Nevertheless, once the UFC stripped Jones of his title and suspended him indefinitely, an opening appeared opposite Anthony “Rumble” Johnson in the main event at UFC 187 on Saturday. While that date was a few weeks earlier than what he was originally preparing for, nothing was going to hold “D.C.” back from another crack at championship gold.
Suddenly, the chance to shake off the sting of defeat and disappointment was going to come front and center, and Cormier is no stranger to having to dig deep when the chips don’t fall his way initially.
Above all the talent he possesses, there is a resilience inside the Louisiana native that allows him to keep moving forward, despite whatever twists and turns come his way. Cormier is determined to become a champion under the UFC banner, and the only thing standing between him and that goal is a heavy-handed knockout artist on his own path toward redemption.
“I was as excited as anyone would be to get that call,” Cormier told Bleacher Report. “You gotta think about the fact that we are guys who get the chance to compete at the highest level, and to get the opportunity I’m getting with another title shot is a blessing.
“After my fight with Jones, I was pretty down in the dumps. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but then I got the fight with Bader and the opportunity to rebuild myself. When this fight came along, it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. No person in their right mind would pass up this opportunity.
“You can look at my career and see my track record and ability to bounce back from adversity. When things are going bad, I pick myself up and rebuild myself. That’s what I said after my fight with Jon. I told everyone I would be better for that happening. That was my intention.
“But now, I get the opportunity to get through that process much quicker than I expected. Before, I thought I would have to fight Jones again to redeem myself. But now, I get the chance to achieve the ultimate goal without that happening.
“It’s just crazy to think that a guy who defended the belt eight different times against eight different people is no longer in that picture right now,” he added. “But that’s on Jon…and I have to take this opportunity for what it is. And that is the chance to make my dream come true. If you’ve followed my career then you have seen that when things are at their lowest, I’ve always found a way to come back better than ever before.”
While additional storylines have floated around in the buildup to UFC 187, the only one that matters to Cormier is being prepared to face the man who will stand across from him inside the Octagon. Where Johnson was once a floundering welterweight who struggled to hit his contracted weight limit on multiple occasions and was released from the promotion because of it, the new and improved version of the Blackzilians is a completely different animal.
Immediately after being cut from the UFC, the Georgia native began to compete in his natural weight class, and the results have been devastating. Johnson has notched nine consecutive victories, with his three most recent wins coming in his return to the biggest stage in MMA. His last outing resulted in a first-round knockout over former title challenger Alexander Gustafsson, as Johnson leveled “The Mauler” in a quick and brutal fashion.
His victory in Sweden earned him the right to fight for the light heavyweight strap, and even though circumstances changed his opponent, Cormier knows Johnson will bring his best. That said, he is confident he will be up to the challenge and plans to make a long-awaited dream come true Saturday night in Las Vegas.
“I know I’m in for a tough fight,” Cormier said. “This is going to be an uphill battle for me against a very dangerous opponent. This is going to be a big challenge, but I’m up for it. I’m up for facing his power punches and putting his wrestling to the test. I’m up for everything Rumble Johnson is going to bring to the table. I know how tough this is going to be, and it’s going to be my determination that is going to pull me through this situation.
“I’m a fighter. I’ve learned over the course of these 16 fights over the past five years that I’m a fighter. I’ll fight no matter the situation. Even in the face of adversity, I’m going to be in there giving my all. I’ll never give up on myself. Even when the fifth round of that fight with Jones came around, I wasn’t giving up on myself. I was in there trying to fight, and I’ll do that every second I’m conscious inside the Octagon.
“The only way to take the fight out of me is to put me out, but as long as I’m up and I have a chance to accomplish this goal, that’s what I’m going to do.
“My resume and work that I’ve done throughout my career has allowed me this opportunity, and I plan on taking advantage of it this time to become the new UFC light heavyweight champion,” he added. “I don’t care who I have to beat to get that belt. The important thing to me is getting that belt strapped around my waist.”
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand, unless noted otherwise.
Jon Jones’ relinquished light heavyweight title belt will be on the line Saturday night at UFC 187 as No. 1 contender Anthony Johnson faces No. 3 challenger Daniel Cormier, who will get his second shot to win that championship this year.
Despite being …
Jon Jones’ relinquished light heavyweight title belt will be on the line Saturday night at UFC 187 as No. 1 contender Anthony Johnson faces No. 3 challenger Daniel Cormier, who will get his second shot to win that championship this year.
Despite being the higher-ranked UFC fighter heading into the championship bout, Johnson is the even-money underdog, while Cormier is the 10-13 favorite (bet $130 to win $100) for the main event.
Cormier lost a unanimous decision to Jones at UFC 182 on January 3, suffering the first setback of his MMA career after 15 consecutive wins.
The former Olympic wrestler is best known for winning the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament as a replacement entry for Alistair Overeem three years ago, and he will be fighting at 205 pounds for the fourth time in the UFC.
Meanwhile, Johnson (19-4) is coming off an impressive first-round knockout of former No. 1 contender Alexander Gustafsson on his home turf in Sweden on January 24. That event was billed as a light heavyweight title eliminator bout with Gustafsson a 1-3 favorite coming off a tough UD loss to Jones in his previous fight.
Johnson has won three in a row since returning to the UFC following six combined wins outside the organization, including three in the World Series of Fighting.
Johnson’s last loss came against top middleweight contender VitorBelfort, who will be battling champion Chris Weidman for the title belt in the co-main event. Johnson fought Belfort at a catchweight of 197 pounds after missing weight at UFC 142 and was submitted via rear-naked choke with 11 seconds left in the first round.
Belfort (24-10) has been installed as a 7-2 underdog against the unbeaten Weidman (12-0), who is a massive 1-5 favorite.
The two have been trying to put together this matchup for more than a year, as Belfort was banned from using testosterone replacement therapy for UFC 173, and then Weidman had to postpone fighting new opponents since beating his replacement, LyotoMachida, there due to hand and rib injuries.
Daniel Cormier will get another title shot just five months after his last. A thank you note to Jon Jones should be in the mail.
On Saturday, Cormier headlines UFC 187 opposite No. 1-ranked Anthony Johnson for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title. An…
Daniel Cormier will get another title shot just five months after his last. A thank you note to Jon Jones should be in the mail.
On Saturday, Cormier headlines UFC 187 opposite No. 1-ranked Anthony Johnson for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title. And this time, you can expect Cormier to wear gold at the end of the night.
Why will this contest be different?
When Johnson said the matchup with Cormier would be more difficult than Jones, I agreed.
Styles make fights, and Cormier‘s style is a terrible matchup for what Johnson brings to the cage. Johnson has massive power and excellent athleticism, but Cormier‘s grinding style should be able to nullify him in the early rounds.
At heavyweight, Cormier was dealing with bigger men and heavier punchers. Johnson won’t surprise Cormier with anything in the cage. Cormier has outclassed most with his wrestling with the lone exception of Jones. Johnson does not pose the same issues that Jones did in the cage.
There is little concern that Johnson will be able to stop a Cormiertakedown.
Johnson is a threat to knock out anyone. The issue with this matchup is that Cormier has splendid defensive boxing and a good chin. Johnson will have a hard time locating the chin of Cormier for another impressive KO. Is it possible? Absolutely. But Cormier will not give him the space.
Cormier is aggressive. Johnson needs space to throw big power shots, and Cormier will close the distance quickly. Even if he fails to take Johnson down, Cormier will put his back against the fence and grind out the early rounds. Johnson’s history of fading as the fight wears on will pop back up as he struggles with Cormier‘s clinch game.
Cardio will play an important factor.
Once tired, Johnson is toast. Cormier will be able to finish a sluggish Johnson in the later rounds.
UFC 187 is the perfect title matchup to make Cormier look like the elite fighter he is. On a basic level, this matchup reminds me a lot of Randy Couture vs. VitorBelfort—the dynamic striker who is more athletic against the grinding wrestler who will outwork most everyone. Johnson has the proverbial “puncher’s chance,” but that is all.
The key to this fight is the first round. If Cormier puts Johnson on his back, either against the fence or on the canvas, Johnson will struggle the rest of the way.
Cormier struggled with Jones’ physical stature, but Johnson cannot replicate that. This matchup plays out perfectly for the Oklahoma State Sooner.
Things will be different for Cormier. He’s not fighting the king of the division.
UFC 187 is the time for Cormier to claim gold. It is a preferable stylistic matchup against a man who has a history of fading. The highlight reel takedowns that Cormier has had in his MMA career are likely to continue against “Rumble.” Eventually, the pressure will wilt Johnson.
In Jones’ absence, Cormier is the best this division has to offer. That will be evident Saturday evening.
It occasionally seems like becoming UFC champion is the worst thing that could ever happen to a professional