At UFC 187, Daniel Cormier claimed the vacant UFC light heavyweight belt with a submission win over Anthony Johnson in the third round.
Not long ago, Cormier was lined up to compete against Ryan Bader and looked to have a long road back to a shot at the 205-pound championship. However, when Jon Jones was stripped of his belt, Cormier filled in opposite Johnson and made the most of his unexpected opportunity.
Cormier will now wait to see whether Jones is able to return to competition any time soon for a rematch with him. If not, Cormier may get to defend his belt against Bader or another light heavyweight contender later on in 2015.
On Saturday, Chris Weidman also defended his middleweight championship against Vitor Belfort. It was the culmination of a matchup that had been postponed three different times. While Belfort had Weidman hurt early on, the champion turned things around with a takedown and damaging ground-and-pound.
With another UFC event in the books, here is what should be next for Cormier, Weidman and the rest of the UFC 187 competitors.
