Daniel Cormier is a former Olympian and has the distinction of being a world champion in two weight classes at the same time in the UFC. He has even successfully defended belts in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions respectively. But ask him the greatest moment of his career, and beating Stipe Miocic at UFC 226 makes the peak of his mountain of achievements.
For Cormier, that win wasn’t just another title; it was a defining moment in his legendary career, solidifying his place among the all-time greats in the sport.
During their weekly Good Guy/Bad Guy podcast, former UFC middleweight Chael Sonnen asked Cormier if beating Stipe was the bigger moment or his interaction with Brock Lesnar after the fight.
Before he could even finish the question, DC already knew the answer!
“So both were fun, but knocking Stipe out was the greatest thing ever. But when Stipe went down bro, it was like all the greatest emotions I have ever had in my life. After that fight I went to a party and I had my first sip of drink in three months. I have never tasted anything sweeter.”
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‘DC’ went on to add that he had a good sense of what Lesnar brought to the table PPV-wise. Lesnar was a WWE superstar who already had a legion of fans even before he stepped into the octagon for the first time against Frank Mir. And when he co- main evented UFC 200, the PPV buys had gone through the roof.
So, he knew that a fight with Lesnar would be massive financially. The fight never actualized, owing to Lesnar testing positive for PEDs in his UFC 200 fight against Mark Hunt. It remains an iconic interaction nevertheless.
Despite this, the DC feels that knocking out Miocic and becoming a simultaneous two-division world champion was a bigger moment in his career.
DC has never had any trouble acknowledging the greatness of his rivals. He has given Miocic his flowers; the former champion even went to WWE and made Lesnar talk in a heart-to-heart interview, where the Minnesota native actually looked like he enjoyed a conversation.
And now, DC is putting his faith in his biggest rival, Jon Jones.
DC bats for Jones amidst recent rule changes
Cormier and Jones don’t often see eye-to-eye, but there’s one thing they agree on: Jones’ lone loss in 2009 to Matt Hamill via a DQ should be taken off his record.
It came from a controversial call over 12-to-6 elbows, a move that has now been legal under recent UFC rule updates, including those announced at UFC Edmonton.
At a Q&A at the event, Cormier voiced his support, saying,
“Jon Jones should be undefeated… there was a moron referee that said he should be disqualified.”
Despite his continued dislike of ‘Bones’, Cormier admitted he’ll miss seeing him compete if UFC 309 later this month is indeed his swan song.
