Daniel Cormier is back to his trolling best and this time, he’s going after his favorite targets, Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov. Having trained under Javier Mendez at the American Kickboxing Academy, the former two-division champion formed a very close bond with Team Khabib, who also trained there. They would spar together, and grapple together, constantly taunting each other. And after ‘DC’ retired from the sport and put on some weight, the trolling has been nonstop.
Every fight week that Islam Makhachev has, he does an interview with Daniel Cormier and like clockwork, every single time, he makes fun of the former champ’s weight and asks him to start training again. All this while, it’s been Islam and Khabib who have been pulling ‘DC’s’ leg, so the American decided to have his moment in a recent interview with Magomed Ankalaev on his podcast.
Cormier was asking Ankalaev what would happen if he won his UFC 313 fight against Alex Pereira and whether he would be bitten by the ‘fame bug.’ Fighters bit by the ‘fame’ bug lose their humility, and aren’t the same anymore, according to ‘DC’.
He even called out Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev for losing their humility after becoming famous, “But Islam and Khabib lost humble,” Cormier said as he tried to hide the smirk on his face.
“Everybody lose humble. You all say, stay humble but everybody lose humble.”
Cormier giggled as he continued calling out his good friends. However, ‘DC’ himself probably does not believe a word of what he said, because if there’s anything about Team Khabib that fans know, it’s that the fame and fortune does not change them at all.
In fact, every member of their team is treated the same way, be it in training or when they’re traveling together for a fight. In fact, ‘The Eagle’ himself, a millionaire in his own respect, travels economy so he can be seated with his other teammates and travel with them. Such is the humility of the man, who is considered one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time.
What Cormier is alluding to is probably the way they now talk to him. Both Islam and Khabib used to be very reserved and wouldn’t talk too much. But as they started getting comfortable around cameras, their true personalities started showing as they make fun of ‘DC’ any chance they get.
It’s safe to say, at this point that Cormier is like the ‘fun uncle’ in the UFC. The former champ has good relations with every fighter and uses his humor to create some unforgettable moments for fans. One such ritual that he has is with Alex Pereira. ‘DC‘ keeps trying to test his grappling skills every time he sees him.
Daniel Cormier tests Pereira’s grappling ahead of UFC 313
It all started off ahead of Alex Pereira’s UFC 307 bout when he took on Khalil Rountree Jr. Questions began arising of whether ‘Poatan’ would be able to handle himself inside the octagon if his opponent took him to the ground.
In fact, Cormier himself questioned the Brazilian’s ability to wrestle. So he ran into the champ before the fight and tested out his wrestling skills in a play-wrestle. But Cormier, now years retired from the sport, immediately regretted his decision.
That moment went viral on social media as fans loved seeing the banter between Cormier and Pereira, claiming ‘DC’ was the only one who brought a genuine smile to ‘Poatan’s’ face. Well, ahead of his fight against Magomed Ankalaev this weekend, Pereira will need his grappling skills now more than ever, seeing as the Russian is a wrestling-dominant fighter.
View this post on Instagram
So naturally, Cormier had to test out the Brazilian’s grappling again. The pair met up during the media day for the event. ‘DC’ immediately saw him and went for a single leg takedown, urging Pereira to show him his wrestling moves. He caught ‘Poatan‘ unawares, and the Brazilian asked him to step back and try it again.
And you guessed it right, Cormier immediately regretted that decision as well. ‘Poatan’ pushed him back, grabbing him under his arms, pushing him back against the wall and delivering a knee to the body (with 5% power). ‘DC’ immediately started shouting and asking the champion to stop.
Clearly, he wasn’t ready for the sheer power of the Brazilian. If this is any indication as to how ‘Poatan’ has worked on his ground game leading up to this fight, Ankalaev may be in for one tough night this Saturday in Las Vegas.
