UFC 187: Johnson vs. Cormier Retro Recap

Subscribe to The Sports Courier on YouTube for more interviews, news and reviews!

Fred Richani’s rapid recap of UFC 187 in Las Vegas, where Anthony Johnson and Daniel Cormier fought for the vacant light heavyweight title and Chris Weidman defended the middleweight title against Vitor Belfort.

UFC 187 Review

Adapted from the episode and edited for clarity and brevity. Listen above for the full review.

We had two excellent title fights, both ending in finishes. Anthony “Rumble” Johnson rocked Daniel Cormier in the first round, but Cormier’s strategy was simple: take him down, wear him down and finish him late. He did exactly that, and in the third round, a spent Johnson gave up his back and tapped to a rear-naked choke. Daniel Cormier is the new light heavyweight champion.

I know some people will say he’s not the real champ, since Jon Jones never lost the title in the cage. Cormier knows that, and of course he’s going after the title. It’s a business. Then he grabbed the mic, told Jones to get his act together because he’s coming for him and walked straight out of the cage. That’s how you promote what could be the biggest rivalry since Chael Sonnen vs. Anderson Silva. I hope Jones takes care of his legal issues and gets back in the Octagon.

Chris Weidman retained the middleweight title against Vitor Belfort, who tagged him and bloodied him early. Weidman took him down and finished him with elbows and punches in the first round. He’s now beaten Anderson Silva twice, Lyoto Machida and Belfort, and I’d expect Luke Rockhold next after his performance against Machida. Gotta love Weidman, from our neck of the woods in the tri-state area.

Donald Cerrone broke John Makdessi’s jaw in the second round, and Makdessi called a timeout, like Eddie Guerrero, to stop the fight. Makdessi held his own on short notice while it lasted, but Cerrone is the rightful No. 1 contender at lightweight and the most marketable one, too.

Andrei Arlovski, closer to 40 than 30, knocked out Travis Browne in the first round of one of the greatest heavyweight fights I’ve ever seen. Both men tagged each other, and Arlovski had nearly pulled out with a strained calf. Go out of your way to see it. A few years ago, I covered his World Series of Fighting loss to Anthony Johnson and thought he was done. Now both are title contenders.

Joseph Benavidez beat John Moraga by unanimous decision in the opener. John Dodson beat Zach Makovsky by decision in his first fight back from a torn ACL, though I thought Makovsky slightly won. Dong Hyun Kim submitted Josh Burkman with an arm-triangle choke, Rafael Natal beat Uriah Hall by split decision in a fight I thought Hall won and Colby Covington beat Mike Pyle by decision. Overall, a great card.

Editor’s note: Rockhold took the middleweight title from Weidman at UFC 194 in December 2015.