Daniel Cormier was one of the brightest collegiate wrestling prospects in the country, but he never won an NCAA Division I title. A rare opportunity for Olympic gold came calling in 2004, but once again, Cormier was denied in his bid to be a world champion.
The 36-year-old native of Lafayette, Louisiana, never knew what it felt like to stand at the peak of the mountaintop—until now.
So much meaning can be taken from a leather strap plated in gold, with the letters U-F-C stamped across it.
Cormier’s entire life has been full of tragedy and shortcomings. At age seven, his father was shot and killed on Thanksgiving by the father of his second wife. Cormier’s daughter died in a tragic car accident in 2003.
But through everything, Cormier always managed to pick himself back up and continue moving forward.
Perhaps it was only fitting Anthony “Rumble” Johnson dropped him with a massive overhand right early in the first round of the vacant light heavyweight title fight at UFC 187 on Saturday. For a man accustomed to sinking or swimming, it only made sense for Cormier’s dreams to shine through in the face of adversity.
Johnson’s face is the last thing most people see before it all goes dark. But the “King of the Grind” went back to his wrestling roots to survive the initial flurry and keep the fight on his terms. With all of his power and might, Johnson came apart bit by bit before our very eyes.
The same reincarnated beast who slaughtered Alexander Gustafsson, among many others, looked human for the first time in over three years. Ultimately, the same sport that broke Cormier’s heart time and time again was the same one that made it whole.
As Johnson finally succumbed to the pressure in the third round, giving up his back, Cormier pushed his forearm across Johnson’s neck, wrapped his hand around his own tricep and squeezed with all of his might. It was a simple and poetic sequence of events that made the impossible into possible.
Johnson waved the white flag, changing a boy’s dream into a man’s reality.
Sitting onstage at the post-fight press conference Saturday night, Cormier recalled being stuck in a one-bedroom apartment with his fiancee, his son and an empty bank account:
We had nothing. Salina and I had nothing. She’s been with me since I had one fight. One time, we had our son, young baby. I was in Strikeforce, and I would barely fight. Salina and I had a 700-square foot apartment in San Jose, California—one bedroom—and we had no money. And my family has no money down in Louisiana. And I was so desperate because we had no gas, we had nothing.
We were on welfare. We called my parents, and they don’t have much. But my mom, my dad, my brothers and my sister—they pulled together whatever they had and they had $575, and they sent it to Salina and I. And it allowed us to actually get through the month until my next sponsorship check from Cage Fighter came. … It’s great to give this championship to my parents and my fiancee because now, we’re fine.
Much has been made about the legitimacy of Cormier’s title win. Jon Jones, the former light heavyweight champion, was stripped and suspended of the title in April after being arrested on a felony charge for a hit-and-run incident.
Undefeated and widely considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Jones was well on his way to achieving all-time greatness. Not to mention, he defeated Cormier in his final defense as champion at UFC 182 in January.
But as Cormier rightly reminded us at the post-fight presser, “You have to be a champion in all facets of life.”
Jones seemed to take being UFC champion for granted.
Having been on the brink of seeing his family suffer, Cormier is unlikely to make those same mistakes. If we can take anything from UFC 187, perhaps the biggest lesson is one in patience. Being a champion isn’t something that happens overnight. It’s a treacherous journey full of failures and missteps.
For Cormier, it all started on a wrestling mat. Through a life’s worth of trials and tribulations, it culminated into him standing in the center of the Octagon, celebrating a moment that can never be taken away.
Jordy McElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He also is the MMA writer for FanRag Sports and co-founder of The MMA Bros.
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