Strikeforce Results: Daniel Cormier dominates Josh Barnett
Posted on May 19, 2012, 11:54 PM by Anton Gurevich
In what was his 10th professional Mixed Martial Arts bout, Daniel Cormier defeated the legendary Josh Barnett via Unanimous Decision, to win the Strikeforce Heavyweight GP Final in San Jose, California. Cormier outclassed Barnett in every aspect of Mixed Martial Arts, and was able to stay in control during all five rounds.
Fresh off KO victory over Antonio Silva, DC continued to display exceptional striking skills, picking Josh Barnett with well-timed strikes that turned "The Warmester" into "The Hamburger" towards the end of Round 5. The only thing working for Barnett was his knee strikes, Josh Barnett managed to hurt Cormier on several occasions with knees, but the American Kickboxing Academy product stayed focused, and continued to execute his gameplan.
Stylistically, Josh Barnett's best shot in this fight was on the ground, however, Cormier managed to shake-off any submission attempt. More than anything, Cormier took down, and even slammed Josh Barnett several times during the fight. DC's short elbows from the top cut Josh Barnett, which gave a significant advantage to Cormier throughout the fight.
It was a perfect performance by Daniel Cormier, who proved he's currently one of the best Heavyweights competing in Mixed Martial Arts. During his post-fight interview, Josh Barnett revealed he broke his hand in Round 1, but it's hard to imagine the former PRIDE star doing anything different in this bout.
Cormier is a championship material, and personally, I won't be surprised if he gets a shot at the winner of next weekend's UFC 146 main event bout between Junior dos Santos and Frank Mir. I think he deserves it.
Comments
Nice article Anton! I've had my eye on this cat for a little while now, and he always seems to shine. Congrats DC.
It's interesting to consider that DC will fight for the UFC belt.However, I don't think he will get the tittle shot. Daniel fought the old school fighter in face of Josh Barnett who already passed his peak days. In my opinion in 10 MMA fights he had only few serious opponents who are Antonio Silva and Josh Barnett. I believe it's not enough or even near the tittle shot for Cormier. In addition, DC needs at least two fights against top 5 Heavyweights to consider the tittle shot against the winner of DSS/Mir.
It's true that it looks like Cormier would win even if Josh didn't break his hand but it's interesting especially since Barnett went for only a couple TDs in 25 mins and always had trouble looking his hands together at the cage, obviously limiting his ability to get the TD. Either way amazing victory for Cormier.