A True Fighting Great

With a high school wrestling record of 101-9, a College wrestling record of 53-10, he represented team USA on the world stage and was named team captain of the 2008 US Olympic wrestling team.

Following his move to MMA after the 2008 Olympics, he won his first heavyweight title in July 2010 for Xtreme MMA in Australia and then won the King of the Cage heavyweight title in August of the same year. Cormier then signed for Strikeforce and proceeded to run through all who were put in front of him and ultimately became the Strikeforce heavyweight Champion following a five-round unanimous decision victory over Josh Barnet in May 2012.

Cormier continued his undefeated run at heavyweight, defeating Frank Mir and Roy Nelson before dropping to light heavyweight where he picked up dominant wins over Patrick Cummins and Dan Henderson. His rivalry with Jon Jones was to become the stuff of legend and it was the first fight against Jones at #UFC182 that would hand Cormier his first professional MMA loss.

Just over four months after that loss, Cormier would replace Jones in the headliner at #UFC187 after Jones was stripped of his title and indefinitely suspended as a result of facing charges stemming from a traffic accident. This bout against Anthony Johnson would see Cormier crowned UFC light heavyweight champion.

Cormier defended the title three more times before the controversial rematch with Jon Jones in July 2017. Following a 3^rdround knockout by Jones and tearful Cormier was reluctant to continue with the rivalry until it was announced in August that Jones had tested positive for steroid use which was confirmed in September following the testing of Jones’ “B” sample. The positive test meant that the bout was declared a no-contest and Cormier was reinstated as the UFC light heavyweight champion. Cormier’s final defence of his light heavyweight title came against Volkan Oezdemir before he was offered the opportunity to face Stipe Miocic for the UFC heavyweight title.

The second of Daniel Cormier’s big rivalries began with the announcement that DC would face the current heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic in July 2018. The first round knockout of Miocic meant that Cormier would become only the second fighter to hold two titles simultaneously and the fifth multi-division champion in UFC history. He successfully defended the heavyweight title against Derrick Lewis at #UFC230 despite a brief Brock Lesnar distraction. His defence of the heavyweight title made him the only UFC fighter to win and successfully defend both the light heavyweight and heavyweight titles. As a result of his achievements, he was named Fighter of the Year in 2018 by most reputable Fight Sports media.

Cormier vacated the UFC light heavyweight the day before #UFC232 intent on focusing on the heavyweight division. His last two fights against Miocic would be the conclusion of a trilogy match-up that would see Cormier fail in his efforts to firstly retain his heavyweight title and then reclaim what he had lost at #UFC241.

Daniel Cormier (22-3-1) retires from competitive MMA with the enviable distinction of having won a World Championship belt in every promotion in which he fought and is considered by many, including this writer, to be one of the greatest combat sports athletes of all time.

Enjoy your retirement and we look forward to you fine-tuning those commentary skills in many future events.