Kyle Terada-USA Today Sports
In the lone fight that drew heavy boos from the San Jose crowd, Daniel Cormier grinded out a unanimous decision victory over Frank Mir at UFC on Fox 7.
Cormier, who was the No. 3 ranked UFC heavyweight coming into the fight, was content with holding Mir against the cage for the majority of the three rounds. The pace of the fight was so slow that referee Herb Dean was forced to intervene and warn the fighters on several occasions.
While Cormier initiated the majority of the lackluster clinches against the cage, Mir definitely warrants a portion of the blame for this underwhelming co-main event. Mir appeared to tire early and offered little resistance during periods when Cormier was leaning against him. Mir has also established a pattern of running out of gas early in fights, putting in similar boring performances against Roy Nelson and Mirko Filipovic.
Despite Mir’s role in Saturday’s debacle, Cormier shoulders the vast majority of responsibility for what transpired.
Cormier, whose MMA record now stands at 12-0, had a golden opportunity to impress the UFC fan base in his first fight with the promotion. With a dynamic victory against Mir, Cormier would have been in prime position to cash in by headlining a major pay-per-view with a title fight.
To his credit, Cormier holds himself accountable for his boring fight with Mir. In the post-fight press conference, Cormier alluded to his nerves being the reason why he failed to put on a dynamic performance.
“I kind of laid an egg a little bit, and I didn’t fight the fight I wanted to,” Cormier said. “I was very tired and I think it was my nerves.”
Cormier better hope this is a one-time occurrence. Future boring performances like Saturday’s is certain to prevent him from obtaining the benefits of becoming a superstar heavyweight in MMA‘s top promotion.
