No matter what happens in Saturday night, Daniel Cormier will be walking into the UFC Octagon for the last time. However if all goes well, he thinks that he could be looking at an all time great legacy.
As far as athletic careers are concerned, few are better than that of Cormier. Before he had even put on his first pair of MMA gloves, he was an Olympic wrestler with a long and decorated career in that sport. Only then would he make the move to MMA, where he would go on to become a two-time light heavyweight champ and heavyweight champ, being just the second person to achieve champ-champ status.
Retiring As Champ Makes Daniel Cormier MMA’s Michael Jordan
The long and illustrious career of Daniel Cormier will be coming to a close at UFC 252 this weekend. After going 1-1 with Stipe Miocic, he hopes to regain the title in their rubber match, and retire as champ. Speaking at the pre-fight press conference, DC explained that if he were to win the belt and retire, his exit story would transcend MMA, putting him alongside the likes of Michael Jordan and Peyton Manning.
“It puts you right alongside the greatest sports athletes of all time,” Cormier said. “Michael Jordan won with the Bulls when they beat the Jazz. Unfortunately he came back, I won’t come back. Peyton Manning won a Super Bowl in his last season. It would put me in that type of sphere, with the greatest athletes that have ever competed across any sport. So, when I win on Saturday, I will retire in that way.”
Of course, Cormier is not ignorant to think that beating Stipe is a foregone conclusion. Although he obviously does not want to focus on the potential downside of what could happen, he knows that things could not go his way. However he was rather honest about how disappointing it would be to go out like that, after losing twice to Jon Jones at 205lb, and then twice to Stipe at heavyweight.
“I’m a guy with a big ego, and that would suck,” Cormier said. “I’ve got to be honest. To think there would be two guys in my career that were just better than me, and I had multiple chances to beat them, and I didn’t get it done. Yeah it would suck.”
It would seem that Daniel Cormier is truly prepared for whatever happens on Saturday night. Win or lose, his career has been Hall of Fame worthy, but if he can go out as heavyweight champion, he would silence a ton of critics.
