Daniel Cormier has certainly established himself as being one of MMA's main stars Saturday night at UFC 192. DC bested Alexander Gustafsson in and thrilling 5 rd struggle which left the two competitors battered and exhausted. Cormier used an excellent clinch on the back of Gustafsson's head to land repeated blows. Early on in the first round DC had a spectacular slam from a high crotch that will definitely be on the highlights for years to come however Gustafsson came back strong in the second round with a couple of takedowns. The 3rd round stuff got rather crazy as Cormier was on his way to winning the round but Gustafsson nailed a helliacious knee that sent DC staggering to the floor. The 5th rd appeared that it might have been the deciding round at the time and the Champ came out just a bit stronger and getting his victory.
The Co-Main event was originally supposed to be a much highly anticipated battle between Johny Hendricks and Tyrone Woodly that was dropped as a result of Hendricks being brought to the hospital during a weight cut gone wrong. In the new Co-Main Bader might just have played himself in to title contention with a rather impressive win over prior UFC Champion Rashad Evans. Bader utilized a quite improved striking to a convincing decision. Cormier might have found himself his next challenger on this card.
The under card fights on the Main Card were not necessarily as exciting as the championship fight but nonetheless many matches were notable. In the 1st fight of the Main Card Julianna Pena beat Jessica Eye, in a fight I could care less over, by unanimous decision. The fight wasn't the most stimulating or technechial and this coming from a woman who said she felt women should be paid more than males in fighting. The BJJ in this one was frightful from both girls and the most entertaining part was when the referee took away a point from Jessica Eye do to an illegal knee while she was in bottom side mount. Joseph Benavidez got the better of Ali Bagautinov in an uneventful match. The audience started booing many times during and right after the match. This does not help the fly weight division in which has not generated a lot of finishes or thrilling fights in the past and where fans leave early when their Champion is competing. In the most interesting fight of the under card Ruslan Magomedov looked excellent in his Unanimous Decision Victory over Shawn Jordan. The AKA product was sharp and patient on his feet, picking Jordan apart with front kicks, question mark kicks and right hands. I see excellent things in the future for Magomedov, particularly practicing with beasts like Cain Velazquez and Daniel Cormier every day.
