Many fans voiced their disapproval with Daniel Cormier's tactics in the early hours of Sunday morning as he wrestled with Anderson Silva during the UFC 200 main event.
Many of those in attendance wanted the pair to stand up and fight, but UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler understands why the two-time Olympic wrestler decided to deploy certain tactics during the fight.
"Daniel did what he needed to do," said Lawler, who was promoting his UFC 201 title defense against Tyron Woodley.
"It wasn't a crowd favorite-type fight, but Anderson Silva is a crafty individual. You talk about a guy who studied martial arts for the longest time, he's a stand-up fighter who even at his age is very crafty, still has one-punch power, one-kick power. He did what he had to do to get the victory.
"The fans wanted to see something different but they're not the ones going in there getting punched and kicked. I can see why they weren't very excited about it. But Daniel needs to put food on his family's table as long as possible and he got the victory."
Cormier won the bout via unanimous decision, but still earned less money than Silva after he had to take a pay cut after Jones was ruled out of the fight after testing positive for a banned substance.
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