Cormier’s big test in quest for UFC history
Daniel Cormier is currently fourth on the UFC’s poundfor-pound list, holds the lightheavyweight championship and is in the conversation for being on the Mount Rushmore of MMA fighters.
The former Olympic wrestler has just a single official loss on his MMA record (20-1-0), and on Saturday night in Las Vegas at UFC 226, he could become the second fighter in UFC history to actively hold two belts. The only other person to achieve that feat is someone named Conor McGregor.
Unfortunately for Cormier, there are a few gigantic obstacles in his path to being considered an all-time great on a par with Demetrius Johnson, Anderson Silva, Georges StPierre or Fedor Emelianenko.
The first is UFC 226’s clear and present danger: heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic. The quiet goliath is the most dominant heavyweight in UFC history and is taller, heavier and has arms that are eight inches longer than Cormier’s. He’s capable of knocking out foes with halfsized punches.
So, in the present tense, Cormier needs to beat Miocic and take his belt in order to be considered a true all-timer. Cormier then has to defeat history itself. The past, in this case, being a man named Jon Jones.
Jones, the mercurial and troubled former light-heavyweight champion has beaten Cormier twice. The first came at UFC 182 in 2015.
Cormier’s second loss to Jones came at UFC 214 on July 29, 2017. It was close right up until the point at which Jones slammed his shin into Cormier’s face midway through the third round.
But Jones’ post-weigh-in drug test came back positive for Turinabol, an old-school anabolic steroid.
When Jones’ B sample came back positive as well, his victory was deemed a no-contest by the California State Athletic Commission and the loss was stricken from Cormier’s record.
Cormier would be undefeated when competing on an even playing field.
Saturday, Cormier has the chance to write a new narrative that is both a giant middle finger to Jones and a possible avenue toward one-upping him in the sport’s levels of greatness.
Or, Cormier could lose to Miocic and retire on the spot.
UFC 226, therefore, is Cormier’s reckoning.