UFC 200 Results: 7 Big Talking Points
4. Cormier Vs. Silva: Exactly What We Expected
Anderson Silva should be commended for stepping in to replace perpetual f**k up Jon Jones on just a couple days notice. He willingly took a match against one of the elite fighters in the sport currently at the top of his game, and while he was undoubtedly well-compensated financially - $600K in guaranteed money - he had a lot to lose and very little to gain otherwise.
Still, the prospect of a Silva win was unlikely. Daniel Cormier is one of the most effective wrestlers in all of MMA, and Silva, for all his greatness, has always shown a susceptibility to being taken down. Lesser wrestlers such as Chael Sonnen and Dan Henderson have enjoyed great success on the ground against "The Spider" so how would he handle the superior skills of Cormier?
The answer is he didn't.
DC did what DC does, which is take his opponent to the ground and control him through positioning and leverage. At no point did he have Silva in danger of being finished, but by that same token Anderson only really had Cormier on the ropes late in the final round when he landed some stiff shots that stunned the light-heavyweight champion.
The fans broke into several chants of "stand them up" (apparently led by "Cowboy" Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone), which at one point led the ref to do exactly that. But it was short-lived as the fighters wound up back in the same position.
This fight was more intriguing for the hardcores because most peolpe expected Jones/Cormier 2 to be nothing more than a repeat of their first fight, and if "Bones" can finally get his life in order we may still see that some day. Until then, Cormier deserves credit for switching his opponent on two days notice and easily taking out one of the greatest of all-time.