Former UFC double champion and Oklahoma State All-American Daniel Cormier was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.
A native of Lafayette, Cormier was a three-time wrestling state champion for Northside High School. Once he went undefeated in two years of JUCO at Colby Community College, Cormier began his legend at Oklahoma State.
Representing his home state, Cormier went 52-10 while with the Cowboys and was the NCAA runner-up in 2001 at 184 pounds.
Cormier represented Team USA in freestyle wrestling every year from 2003-08 and was an Olympian in 2004, finishing 4th at the Games. He won a Bronze Medal at the 2007 World Championships at 96 KG.
He was expected to rep once again in 2008, but had to pull out due to illness stemming from weight cutting issues.
But that wasn’t the end of Cormier’s competitive career. He found a new home in mixed martial arts following his wrestling career.
Before his days in the UFC, Cormier began in Strikeforce. Ultimately, he compiled a 12-0 record with belts in XMMA and Strikeforce in the heavyweight division before he made his UFC debut.
Beginning in the UFC, Cormier dropped to light heavyweight (205 pounds) and quickly went 3-0 in the promotion before challenging Jon Jones for the title.
However, Cormier fell short, losing by unanimous decision. But, Jones had to caveat the belt after the win and Cormier fought Anthony “Rumble” Johnson for the vacant championship.
Winning by submission due to a rear naked choke, the former Cowboy became the champion and had two title defenses en route to a 19-1 record.
He fought Jones once again in July of 2017, but lost via knockout. However, Jones tested positive for a banned substance, turning the fight into a no-contest and reinstating Cormier as champion.
Cormier defended the belt one more time before he opted to move up to heavyweight to challenge Stipe Miocic for the title. That’s when he made history, knocking out Miocic in the first round to hold both belts simultaneously.
Cormier later vacated the light heavyweight belt and defended his heavyweight championship by submitting Derrick Lewis. Although “DC” lost the rematch against Miocic and a third fight against the future Hall of Famer, he retired with a 22-3 (1) record and was later inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Cormier currently serves as an MMA and college wrestling analyst for ESPN while being a color commentator on the No. 1 PPV broadcast team for the UFC alongside Jon Anik (Play-by-Play) and Joe Rogan (color).
Cormier’s induction into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame includes a class of him, fellow wrestler Kevin Jackson and long time New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees.
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