A look at Strikeforce Heavyweight Daniel Cormier
With many wrestlers throughout the Mixed Martial Arts world coming into the top slots in each and every promotion, it’s hard not to see that wrestlers are proving to be a dominant force at any level. On August 13th at King of the Cage: Imminent Danger, Daniel Cormier seized an opportunity given to him a week prior and took over the reigns as the KOTC Heavyweight champ!
Now I know many of you are asking yourselves “Who?” So ill go ahead and give you a rundown on the quickly rising OSU alum. Cormier was set for wrestling success from the gate, many Oklahoma State wrestlers have transitioned very well to MMA, Randy Couture, King Mo, and Johny Hendricks just to name a few. Strikeforce knew this and gave him his opportunity at Strikeforce: Challengers and the OSU Cowboy hasn’t looked back since.
With a 4 fight win streak, and nothing leaving the second round yet, it sure does seem like he’s geared up for a shot in the big leagues. Although he now has a title to defend in what I believe is a lack luster promotion in KOTC, many more opportunities will soon arise for the short, yet powerful heavyweight.
Standing at only 5’10 and weighing in at the upper half of the HW limit he is a very big challenge to takedown, his short and powerful legs are not only a harder target to hit, but the weight he will throw on you after his sprawl will surely have you thinking twice about a second takedown attempt. So what is there to do with a short guy you can’t take down? You would think using a reach advantage and punching him in the face would be a smart game plan, but with very one sided wins again 4 guys over 6 foot, and giving up a reach advantage in each fight, that too has seemed impossible.
Now I know his stand up has major room for improvement and he will surely come across a much better striker sometime soon in his career, but will that be enough? No one likes to get punched in the mouth repeatedly, and I’m sure Cormier is in agreement with that, but as with every other wrestler of his pedigree it’s always a very solid option to stop the hurt with a simple double leg takedown. He will take a few blows, weigh his options, throw you on your face and beat the juice out of you for however long it takes!
I understand many of you reading this now are wondering, if this guy is as good as I make him seem why haven’t you heard of him? And to answer your question, all I can say is one of three things. A: you will! B: because I actually READ about fighters, and know more than you! And C: because you have yet to pull down your awesome TapouT shirt from over your eyes and take a look at a few MMA events not on a free TV slot, or playing at the bar while you shoot Jaeger all night!
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Daniel Cormier isn’t the best ever, and probably never will be. There will always be someone better, but with a belt around his waist he is certainly the best KOTC has to offer at the moment, and until someone with Olympic caliber wrestling skills to match the Athens 2004 veterans’ comes along, he will continue to be a top unknown. Keep your eyes open, and quit TiVo searching the term UFC and maybe one day soon you will get to witness the talent of the King Mo protégé!
By Harold Hughes
ProFighting-fans.com MMA Staff Writer