“Hey pussy, are you still there?”
Last night in the UFC 182 main event, we witnessed the most polarising fighter on the planet face on paper his toughest foe, and after five hard-fought rounds, Jon Jones did what Jon Jones does best, win. But aside from marveling at Jon Jones’ obvious ability, fight fans were left pondering one thing: What is next for Daniel Cormier?
Daniel Cormier’s toughness and grit were forged on the wrestling mat. A wrestler with an indomitable spirit, “DC” was always destined for the top, or so it seemed. As a teenager Daniel Cormier made a quick ascent to the upper echelon of high school wrestling — not bad for a kid from Lafayette, Louisiana. But it wasn’t until his college days that the fruit of his labor truly came to fruition. At junior college Cormier wrestled under esteemed coach Steve Lampe. Lampe, a former All American, immediately formed a bond with DC, and through his coaching Cormier ended his junior college wrestling career with 2 national titles, the first at 190 lbs, and the second at 197 lbs.
Following Cormier’s stunning junior college career, he took a major step up in competition and walked straight on to Oklahoma State’s star-studded team. It was during his time in the Sooner State that Cormier would first taste the bitterness of being defeated at a national level. In the NCAA Division 1 final in 2001, Daniel Cormier was pitted against an unbeaten phenomenon Cael Sanderson not too dissimilar to his opponent last night, and the outcome was identical: despite putting up a valiant effort, Daniel Cormier was bested. Though many have agreed that during any period before or since Cormier would have been a national champion, he just had the misfortune of reaching the top of the pile at the same time as the best college wrestler of all time, Cael Sanderson.
Following his harrowing defeat, DC reset himself and set his eyes on Olympic gold, the ultimate form of redemption, but his Olympic tenure would too be a story of almost. Following a respectable turnout at the world championships in 2003, he placed fifth, and Cormier found himself preparing for his first Olympic Games. In 2004, the Olympics returned to it’s spiritual home, Athens, and Cormier was in his element dominating all his opponents before meeting one of the greatest international wrestlers of all time, Khajimurad Gatsalov. Gatsalov proved too much for DC and he was left once again back at the drawing board. The distance between winning and losing at an international level is millimetres, and Cormier was agonisingly close.
Cormier’s next Olympic appearance, or rather lack thereof, has been well-documented. Cormier made it all the way to Beijing as a favorite, but never got to step on to the mat. His kidneys failed when cutting weight and he was robbed, by himself, of competing at the Olympics one last time.
What people fail to realise, however, is that Cormier’s Beijing fiasco had been coming for a long time, he never controlled his weight during his second olympic cycle. At the 2006 Uzbekistan Independence Cup in Tashkent, he failed to make the weight limit, and later in 2007 he refused to even cut to his normal weight class. These two events foreshadow the eventual career-defining mess up he made in Beijing.
After the 2008 Olympics, Cormier’s turned his attention to mixed martial arts, and as we all know, he dominated his way to a shot at the title against Jon Jones. Jones was expected to win by many last night, but few expected him to outwrestle Cormier. Cormier looked visibly shocked when he was hoisted to the canvas. Equally few expected Cormier to beat Jones on the feet, though he quite clearly did in the second and showed moments of brilliance in the third. It is honestly my belief that Daniel Cormier beats any past UFC light heavyweight champion, but last night, Jon Jones showed us why he is by a great margin the best fighter on the planet.
Last night after the fight, Cormier said while holding back tears, “This isn’t going to ruin me,” and I for one don’t doubt that. Cormier has faced the worst of the worst throughout his career, from Sanderson beating him, to his daughter dying, to his debacle at the Olympics, but one thing has remained, and that is his will. You don’t wrestle at an Olympic level without developing the spirit to bounce back after adversity.
What’s next for Daniel Cormier? Most likely a date with the loser of Alexander Gustaffson vs. Anthony Johnson, or perhaps a tryst with Rashad Evans, but one thing is for certain: this won’t be the last we see of DC.
Right now Cormier’s career has been defined by his defeats — he has made the records of greats look greater while failing to assure his own legacy, but even in his defeats, Daniel Cormier is a legend in his own right. His failures have superseded a litany of fighters’ greatest victories, and yet, his final chapter has yet to be written. When all is said and done, Daniel Cormier will be seen as a champion who never got his belt.
• Jon Jones vs.Daniel Cormier (UFC Light Heavyweight Championship): Jon Jones def. Daniel Cormier via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46).
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UFC 182: Jones vs. Cormier took place on January 3, 2015 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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