Cris Cyborg answered a lot of questions tonight, putting in a dominating performance over the course of three five-minute rounds. When Cyborg gets on top, it’s hard to stop the pounding. The stop was a little questionable, but it doesn’t look like Coenan is complaining. Cyborg dominated everywhere, showed no fear of Coenen’s guard, and answered any questions about her cardio.
This was not an embarrassing showing for Coenen, who stayed with the champion throughout and never looked out of her league. She just didn’t have the firepower to really put up a fight. Does anyone?
Cyborg easily won the first round, but Coenen made a statement: she wasn’t going to be overwhelmed. Cyborg was the stronger of the two, but the difference was not as pronounced as it was against Gina Carano. Cyborg won the standing portions as well as the ground portions, but Coenen held her own.
Round 2 was more of the same, but it was more one-sided. Cyborg dominated the standing portions in the second round, and managed to avoid any submissions. Cyborg did a great job defending a deep takedown attempt, and did not shy away from Coenen’s guard.
Coenen made a big single leg attempt early in the third, but to no avail. Cyborg did not slow down as some people suspected she would; in fact, she appeared to gain steam as the fight went on. Coenen landed a massive right hand in the third round, but it didn’t have much effect. Cyborg swarmed, got on top, and finally pounded Coenen out.