UFC Legacies: Daniel Cormier

Daniel Cormier’s fantastic UFC career will cement him in a lot of fan’s minds as one of the all time greats. His overall MMA record of 22 wins from 26 bouts is a tough feat to be matched by anyone who isn’t an incredible all-round fighter.

Cormier came to UFC from a background in wrestling, where he had a great deal of success. The Louisiana-fighter made the US World or Olympic team 6 times, earning him a world bronze medal and gold at the Pan American Games in the process.

It was this wrestling experience that made Cormier so adept at the close combat situations he found himself in many times during his UFC career.

Daniel Cormier was often a bookie’s favorite when he stepped into the octagon and made betting on UFC fight nights as exciting as ever.

Early Career

The phrase ‘bursting onto the scene’ could’ve been made for Daniel Cormier’s UFC debut, winning his first two fights in 2013 comfortably, by unanimous decision.

Entering the sport at the age of 34, Cormier was no spring chicken and he quickly put his years of fighting experience to good use, moving down to the light heavyweight division where he was at less of a disadvantage over his opponents.

Light Heavyweight Championship

With controversy surrounding felony charges for Jon Jones, who was the champion at the time, Cormier was called up to fight Anthony Johnson in 2015 to compete for the title.

It was in incredible battle, with Johnson flooring Cormier in the opening seconds of the first round. Cormier managed to resurrect himself and went on to force sum=bmission from Johnson in the third round by rear-naked choke.

Cormier vs Jones Controversies

Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones were tipped to fight a number of times between 2014 and 2017, however the big match-up could never go ahead due to various injuries for both fighters and Jones’ misconduct causing him to be intermittently suspended.

Eventually, in July 2017, the fight went ahead for the light heavyweight championship title. Jones won the bout via knockout in the third round and Cormier appeared, to everyone watching, to be at his lowest point.

However, it emerged almost a month later that Jones had been investigated for a potential doping violation, based on a drug test administered the day before their fight.

The championship title was therefore handed back to Cormier, in dramatic fashion. Being the great sportsman he is, Cormier even announced that he was open to another fight with Jones, after his suspension was served. Sadly, this never happened, but it would have been the match-up to make UFC fans across the world go crazy!

Miocic vs Cormier Rivalry

Having successfully defended his light heavyweight title for a while, Cormier moved back up to the heavyweight classification and faced Stipe Miocic in 2018 for the UFC heavyweight championship.

Cormier won via knockout in the first round, proving to fans and critics that he was the real deal and he became only the second fighter in history to simultaneously hold two titles in UFC!

Their second contest came after a fight between Cormier and Brock Lesnar failed to go ahead. This time, Miocic was successful, winning the bout by TKO in the fourth round and stripping Cormier of his heavyweight championship.

The third fight between the two in 2020 is cited by some commentators as one of the greatest in UFC history. It went the full 25 minute distance at UFC 252, with both fighters suffering controversial eye pokes which seemed to affect Cormier worse.

It was a brilliantly even contest with both fighters digging deep to see it through to the end. Sadly for Cormier, he eventually lost the fight by unanimous decision and announced his retirement from UFC.

It’s probably not the way Cormier would have wanted to end a glittering MMA career, but with such a dramatic conclusion, it certainly contributed to his status as one of UFC’s all-time greats.