The Hit List: The top 5 moments from star-studded UFC 187
Choosing just five moments to highlight as favorites from a card that turned out as great as Saturday's UFC 187 did is no easy task. Truth is, there were dozens of moments from the Las Vegas mega-event that moved us.
With that said, here are five that we simply couldn't ignore. From Daniel Cormier finally becoming a world champion to Chris Weidman shocking us once more in a whole new way and more, UFC 187 proved to be an event worth remembering.
Daniel Cormier becomes the best in the world
We have to admit it: Watching Daniel Cormier become a UFC champion on Saturday night was a lot of fun. Over the years, Cormier has never hidden the fact that he's a ruthless competitor who has lived most his life focused on winning at the highest stages.
Even so, it has never been hard to root for DC. That can't be said for many other super athletes.
Despite his world-class athleticism, talent and skill, Cormier's story is filled with a lot of overcoming of tragedy and adversity in his personal and professional lives. Somehow, Cormier became an elite underdog.
The guy is charismatic and funny in a natural way. When he's feeling good, he gives off good energy and is all smiles.
When he's upset at a rival opponent or in the midst of battle, Cormier makes no effort to maintain a cool demeanor or to look or act in any contrived way to maintain a certain image. He's said it, and it rings true -- what you see is what you get with Daniel Cormier.
What we saw at UFC 187 from Cormier is a phenomenal fighter, able to withstand punishment, make adjustments and break down even the scariest of monsters in the cage. Anthony Johnson straight up flattened Cormier in the first round, but he couldn't keep him down.
Nor could Johnson keep Cormier off of him. Just as he said he needed to do beforehand, Cormier clawed and dug his way past the hulking shell of his opponent and found weaknesses to exploit.
Cormier has everything you want in a champion -- competitive drive, work ethic, skills, and relatable, not perfect, personality. We're going to enjoy the ride of Cormier's championship reign for as long as it lasts.
Chris Weidman defends his title
Like Daniel Cormier after him, Chris Weidman survived some moments of terror from his UFC 187 opponent before turning the corner and forcing the win for himself. Vitor Belfort's only chance to beat Weidman was going to be to catch him in a blitz of quick punches and hurt him before he knew what was happening.
That's exactly what "The Phenom" did early on. Take with a grain of salt Weidman's post-fight comments that he was simply letting the Brazilian tire himself out when he covered up and ate a barrage of punches to the head in the first round.
"The All-American" certainly blocked some of those shots, but an initial straight punch hurt him and prompted him to cover up to begin with. Then, he ate a number of thudding uppercuts which snapped his head backwards.
Vitor put himself in a position to win Saturday night, but Weidman gutted through the attack, grabbed a hold of Belfort and didn't let him go until the referee pried him off. Just as he did in his previous fight, against Lyoto Machida, Weidman showed against Belfort that he is capable of taking serious punishment from a KO artist with power, shaking it off and getting back to his game.
Weidman can out-slick strikers and bully all-time greats, as he did -- twice -- to Anderson Silva, but he also has the conditioning and character to come from behind after being in danger. The New Yorker is writing one heck of a Hall-of-Fame story for himself in a still young career, ladies and gentleman.
Take his invitation to jump on board his train and enjoy the show. We're watching one of the best fighters in history develop right in our own time.
Andrei Arlovski knocking out the odds, again
Fans of Arlovski could have been forgiven if they believed his being booked in a rematch against Antonio Silva last September was a punishment to "The Pitbull" for a cautious outing in his UFC return against Brendan Schaub. After all, Arlovski only got by Schaub with a controversial split decision win, and had been completely out-classed in a lopsided decision to Silva when they first fought, in 2010.
Now, it seemed, "Bigfoot" was better than ever as a top-five UFC heavyweight. On paper, Arlovski stood little chance of beating Silva.
But fights are contested in rings, not on paper, and the Minsk fighter used his fast hands to knock the huge grappler out before he could grab a hold of him and force a repeat of their first outing. Similarly, Arlovski had a tough draw Saturday against friend and former training partner Travis Browne.
Browne was another top-five opponent, and one who knew the former champion's game well, and had a serious size, youth and speed advantage over him. Once again, it didn't seem to matter, as an aggressive Arlovski came out strong with punches and punished Browne until he earned the stoppage win in the fight of the night.
What's more, Arlovski himself had to recover from being rocked. In the midst of being wobbled, Browne never stopped swinging hard and dropped Arlovski to the floor with one nasty punch.
Just like Cormier, Arlovski refused to stay down, got back to his feet and finished his opponent. It was amazing, and sad to watch -- two friends and former roommates with love for one another -- resorting to desperate attempts to knock one another out for money and career advancement.
But that's what the fight game boils down to sometimes. And both men's resolve and gameness impressed.
By prevailing, Arlovski has suddenly found himself in the top two or three of the UFC's heavyweight division -- over a decade after he became champion of it. Interim champion Fabricio Werdum has a fight next month with champion Cain Velasquez.
After that, only Stipe Miocic can argue for being more deserving of a title shot than Arlovski. He'll continue to have the odds against him in every fight with a top heavyweight from here on out, but it will be exciting to see if the 36-year-old can continue to beat those odds as he has the last few years.
Donald Cerrone rolls on
Donald Cerrone may not have been smart to fight injured at UFC 187 against a last-minute substitution opponent, but he sure was brave. And, he was sharp in beating him.
John Makdessi fought with confidence and had some real success against Cerrone. But, in a battle between kickboxers, the much taller and bigger one had the clear advantage.
Cerrone scored early and often with kicks and punches. His shins did the most damage, repeatedly cracking Makdessi flush in the face and head, and ultimately getting him the stoppage win.
His win streak now stands at eight, going back to 2013, and Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone has clearly earned the first true world title shot of his long career. The Colorado native says he wants to fight for the title next, in Denver.
With champion Rafael dos Anjos injured, we do not yet know when he'll be ready to return. Here's hoping Cerrone's team and management and the UFC can convince him to wait to rematch the Brazilian for the lightweight championship.
Cerrone told us that he fights for money. Perhaps a healthy wait-around stipend from the UFC could go a long way to convincing him not to risk his title shot once more.
The "Cowboy" could sure help sell a title fight, as he's a marketer's dream. The next time Cerrone fights, it needs to be for a title.
He's done too much to deserve anything less.
Rafael Natal's hustle
Rafael Natal (R) out-worked and out-struck Uriah Hall, on Saturday.
Uriah Hall looked slick and in control early in the first round against Brazilian Rafael Natal. Unfortunately for the TUF runner-up, he must have felt a little too slick and more in control than he actually was.
For two rounds, Hall let the fight slip away from him as he seemed intent on looking for single shots and running away from "Sapo" whenever he wasn't being pressed against the cage, taken down or eating punches from the Renzo Gracie student. We're not saying Hall would have definitely won the fight had he fought with the same type of urgency and aggression that Natal did, but it would have been helpful had he tried.
In our book, there was no fault in the split-decision victory for Natal. We'll never complain about the more aggressive fighter getting the nod in a competitive fight. Natal may not be well-known, but he's a tough out.
The middleweight has now won three straight fights, and a lot more folks will know their name after his win over the popular fighter.
