Decorated wrestler and former UFC double champion, Daniel Cormier, was left with egg on his face by fellow amateur star Ben Askren during their podcast this week.
After competing at the 2004 Athens Olympics and 2008 Beijing Olympics, Cormier managed to turn his hand to combat sports and to good effect. First snatching the Strikeforce heavyweight tournament win, the Lafayette star would then go on to conquer both the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions in the UFC.
Notably, Cormier has also competed in numerous World Cups and struck gold at the Pan American games to boot. Neither being mean feats nor must it be noted as such.
However, the UFC analyst was hilariously caught in a little lie by fellow Olympian Askren as the two jockeyed on their podcast this week, in a light-hearted call out from the ex-UFC welterweight star.
Askren initially claimed that despite being an Olympian, Cormier had the World team before the age of 23, like himself, to resistance from the former UFC double champ.
Cormier insisted he did exactly that, only to realize moments later that he was 24 when he made the team, if not even 25 by his accounts. As DC continued moving his head sideways, Askren asked his birth year and went ahead to calculate how old he was in 2003.
“You are lying? HA, gotcha,” Askren laughed!
“So, I was 24 — Goddamnit,” Cormier joined him. “You got me! I was 24. You’re right, bro. God dangit, I was 24. Actually, I might have been 25”, he added, still contemplating.
Notably, Askren, despite being mostly remembered for being knocked out in 5 seconds by a Jorge Masvidal flying knee at UFC 239 in 2019, is an accomplished mixed martial artist.
Askren’s pedigree led to an innovative UFC swap deal
Before joining the UFC, Askren had also fought for ONE Championship and Bellator MMA at the welterweight limit. ‘Funky’ would go on to dominate every foe with his wrestling and grappling prowess.
In 2018, completing a spectacular trade between ONE Championship and UFC, Askren would be traded for flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson, not the most popular fighter in the mind of Dana White.
Initially making good on his move, Askren managed to round his unbeaten record to 20 fights with a controversial bulldog choke submission win over former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler.
However, a year into his run, the whole thing came to a crashing halt. Memed to death at this stage, the outspoken grappler found himself on the receiving end of the quickest knockout loss in Octagon history.
Following the Masvidal KO, Askren would then come unstuck in a submission loss to another veteran, Demian Maia. He would then be forced to retire after undergoing hip surgery in 2019.
