Combat sports like wrestling and boxing have already found their place in the Olympics. But will MMA ever achieve the same stature to enlist itself as an Olympic sport? Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen don’t think so. Disappointed? Well, they have very good reason to do so.
The history of MMA is far from being proper. The early days of MMA involved gimmick fights with hands behind backs and other insane stuff like that. There were no universally accepted rules in the sport.
But the sport has made a massive improvement in its reception in the last couple of decades. However, both Cormier and Sonnen’s opinions converged at the point that MMA was still too dangerous of a sport to be enlisted in the Olympics.
Initially, ‘The Bad Guy’ pointed out how the most influential person in MMA, Dana White, doesn’t need to enlist MMA as an Olympic sport.
Sonnen also opined how White had developed several competitive tournaments like the Dana White Contender Series and The Ultimate Fighter to scout talents and keep the process running, thereby eliminating the significance of the Olympics. But, ‘DC’ had a completely different take on why MMA wouldn’t ever become an Olympic sport.
Cormier mentioned that it would be too ‘taxing’ for the fighters to compete in a tournament-style contest like the Olympics. The former UFC champ-champ also opined that the injury levels can be controlled in certain ways. But that would turn the sport into an amateur showdown.
“[The IOC will have to] take away elbows, take away certain kicks, they’re [the fighters] gonna have to wear shinguards. It will be amateur mixed martial arts.”
Well, Cormier may have ruled out the possibility of MMA making it to the Olympics someday, but he does believe that there were UFC fighters who could make it to the event.
Alex Pereira could make the US Wrestling team, claims DC
UFC light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira prefers a stand-and-strike-styled fight and avoids going to the ground.
But after a recent session of fun grappling with Daniel Cormier himself, the Poatan seems to have him convinced that he could make it to the US wrestling team. No, Pereira didn’t say anything himself, he just rag-dolled DC.
Cormier, who is an Olympic medalist in wrestling himself, felt Pereira’s prowess on the ground a few days back when the former UFC middleweight champ took him down quite easily. The Louisiana native also had to call security to free himself from Pereira’s leghold.
The very next episode of Good Guy/Bad Guy episode after this incident had Cormier opining that Pereira packed enough skills to enlist himself into the USA’s Olympic wrestling team.
