UFC 210: Cormier vs. Johnson 2 – A Night to Remember

Daniel Cormier submitted Anthony Johnson to retain the light heavyweight championship at UFC 210 on April 8, 2017. The event at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York, paired their title rematch with a controversial middleweight finish and a deep preliminary card.

View the official UFC 210 event archive on UFC.com.

Cormier repeats his submission success

Cormier and Johnson had first fought for the vacant title at UFC 187, where Cormier won by rear-naked choke. The rematch again ended with the champion taking Johnson’s back and securing the same submission, this time at 3:37 of round two.

Johnson’s willingness to enter grappling exchanges gave Cormier opportunities to use his strongest tools. Once the champion reached a finishing position, the challenger could not escape. Johnson announced his retirement after the fight, giving the immediate aftermath an additional significance beyond the successful defense.

Mousasi’s win follows a disputed stoppage

Gegard Mousasi defeated Chris Weidman by TKO at 3:13 of the second round. The finish became contentious because the referee initially interrupted the action after knees he believed were illegal; officials subsequently treated the knees as legal, and Weidman was unable to continue.

The interruption and handling of the incident drew criticism, but the official result remained a Mousasi victory. It was not changed to a no contest. A recap therefore needs to preserve both the unusual sequence and the recorded outcome rather than treating controversy as proof of a reversal.

Oliveira and Calvillo finish; Usman controls Strickland

Charles Oliveira submitted Will Brooks in the first round, and Cynthia Calvillo finished Pearl Gonzalez in the third. Thiago Alves defeated Patrick Cote by unanimous decision to complete the main card.

The prelims featured Myles Jury’s first-round stoppage of Mike de la Torre, Kamaru Usman’s decision over Sean Strickland and Shane Burgos’s third-round finish of Charles Rosa. Gregor Gillespie needed only 21 seconds to knock out Andrew Holbrook. Patrick Cummins, Desmond Green, Katlyn Chookagian and Magomed Bibulatov secured decision wins across the rest of the 13-bout card.

Complete UFC 210 results

• Daniel Cormier defeated Anthony Johnson — submission (rear-naked choke), R2, 3:37; light heavyweight title.
• Gegard Mousasi defeated Chris Weidman — TKO (knees), R2, 3:13.
• Cynthia Calvillo defeated Pearl Gonzalez — submission (rear-naked choke), R3, 3:45.
• Thiago Alves defeated Patrick Cote — unanimous decision, R3, 5:00.
• Charles Oliveira defeated Will Brooks — submission (rear-naked choke), R1, 2:30.
• Myles Jury defeated Mike de la Torre — TKO (elbows and punches), R1, 3:30.
• Kamaru Usman defeated Sean Strickland — unanimous decision, R3, 5:00.
• Shane Burgos defeated Charles Rosa — TKO (punches), R3, 1:59.
• Patrick Cummins defeated Jan Blachowicz — majority decision, R3, 5:00.
• Gregor Gillespie defeated Andrew Holbrook — KO (punches), R1, 0:21.
• Desmond Green defeated Josh Emmett — split decision, R3, 5:00.
• Katlyn Chookagian defeated Irene Aldana — split decision, R3, 5:00.
• Magomed Bibulatov defeated Jenel Lausa — unanimous decision, R3, 5:00.

Sources

UFC 210 official fight reports; Event results record.

Article Tags

UFC, UFC 210, Mixed Martial Arts