Daniel Cormier was enshrined into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2022. | 📷: Getty/UFC
Daniel Cormier encountered only one riddle he could not solve during a remarkable career that encompassed 26 professional bouts and spanned more than a decade.
“I worked so hard to try to accomplish this goal, and it didn’t happen,” Cormier told Fox Sports. “I could have fought better. My manager and coach told me that generally I fight better inside of the cage than I do in practice, and today, I didn’t do that. He was better today. He beat me. He won the fight. He’s obviously the champion for a reason, and he showed it tonight.”
Cormier was effective in spurts but gradually wore down. The three-time collegiate All-American wrestler and two-time Olympian did his best work near the end of the first round and into the second, as he attacked Jones with potent dirty boxing in close quarters. Right uppercuts connected often but failed to deter the champion. Jones responded with standing elbows, knees and a variety of kicks to the head, body and legs. The complexion of what had been a competitive fight changed in the fourth round, where Jones executed a pair of double-leg takedowns and seemed to suck the life right out of his opponent. Cormier landed a takedown of his own in Round 5 but never put himself in position to author the finish he needed. Jones cruised to the finish line, his title defense a resounding success.
“My cardio was fine,” Cormier said. “I felt OK. Obviously, over the course of a five-round fight, you get tired, especially with the pace that we set early in the first round and the second round. It was very high, a lot of in-fighting, which is tough. For the first time in my career, I was actually absorbing damage as the fight was playing out. It slows you down when you’re taking damage.”
Jones stopped “DC” with a head kick and follow-up punches in the third round of their rematch two-plus years later, though the result was later overturned to a no contest after he tested positive for performance enhancers. A third battle between them never materialized.
More than a decade later, Cormier’s first ill-fated showdown with Jones in the UFC light heavyweight division still ranks as one of the most profound inflection points of his career. Four more worth considering:
Daniel Cormier vs. Josh Barnett
Strikeforce “Barnett vs. Cormier”May 19, 2012 | San Jose, California
Cormier smashed the former UFC champion with punches to the body and head, mixed in kicks, incorporated takedowns and neutralized the Erik Paulson protégé’s famed submission game ahead of a one-sided unanimous decision in their Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix final at the HP Pavilion. Scores were 49-46, 50-45 and 50-45. Cormier darted in and out of range and landed the fight’s most telling blows, including a jarring head kick in the third round. That frame also saw him execute a sensational head-over-heels slam on the 6-foot-3, 248-pound Barnett. The Pride Fighting Championships veteran found no refuge on the ground, where Cormier met him with short, sharp elbows. However, it was the Louisiana native’s improved standup that buoyed him, as he ripped into Barnett with hooks, uppercuts, kicks and knees. His face a bloody mess, “The Warmaster” saw his best chance at victory come and go in the fourth round, where he threatened the unbeaten Cormier with a kneebar. After a brief struggle, “DC” freed himself, settled in Barnett’s guard and resumed his onslaught. By the time it was over, Cormier held a 131-87 advantage in total strikes landed, all while piling up more than seven minutes of control time. The defeat was Barnett’s first in more than five years, halting a streak of eight consecutive wins.
Daniel Cormier vs. Dan Henderson
UFC 173May 24, 2014 | Las Vegas
Cormier put the former two-division Pride champion to sleep with a rear-naked choke in the third round of their co-main event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Henderson lost consciousness 3:53 into Round 3. Operating in the shadows of the Renan Barao-T.J. Dillashaw headliner, Cormier outclassed the Team Quest patriarch in every phase of the sport and bled his gas tank dry with a relentless top game. He struck for takedowns and moved to full mount in all three rounds, rendering Henderson’s fable right hand useless. Late in the third round, Cormier transitioned to the Californian’s back, cinched the choke and forced him to go belly down. Soon after, Henderson lost his grip on reality.
Daniel Cormier vs. Anthony Johnson
UFC 187May 23, 2015 | Las Vegas
Cormier replaced the suspended and deposed Jones on late notice and put away “Rumble” with a rear-naked choke, as he laid claim to the vacant light heavyweight championship in the third round of their main event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Johnson capitulated 2:39 into Round 3. Even so, “Rumble” had his moments. He floored Cormier with a searing right hand in the first round and clobbered him with multiple head kicks, only to see the ex-King of the Cage champion walk through his best shots. “DC” took control with an overwhelming second round, where he grounded Johnson and tore into him with punches and elbows from the top. After an extended beating, the Dublin, Georgia, native returned to his corner a shell of his former self. Cormier offered him no respite in Round 3. There, he again drove Johnson to the canvas, progressed to his back and forced the tapout with the fight-ending choke.
Daniel Cormier vs. Stipe Miocic
UFC 226July 7, 2018 | Las Vegas
Cormier punched out the Strong Style Fight Team star and captured the undisputed heavyweight championship in the first round of their headliner at T-Mobile Arena. “DC” closed it out 4:33 into Round 1, as he became the second fighter in UFC history—Conor McGregor was the first—to hold titles in two divisions simultaneously. Miocic threw power punches in combination but moseyed too willingly into the clinch against the two-time Olympic wrestler and reigning light heavyweight champion. After a brief pause in the action due to a blatant eye poke from Cormier, he again chose to engage the Lafayette, Louisiana, native at close range. Cormier fired a right hook on the break that folded the Marcus Marinelli disciple where he stood. A burst of hammerfists followed, knocking Miocic unconscious before a stunned crowd of 17,464. However, it was only the start of their blossoming rivalry. Miocic rebounded, won two subsequent rematches between the two men and concluded their trilogy as the last man standing.