Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Light Heavyweights

2.Daniel Cormier

Cormier split his career between heavyweight and light heavyweight, but he did enough in the latter divison to be considered the second greatest ever. Outside of his rivalry with Jon Jones, Cormier was undefeated at 205, vanquishing Alexander Gustafsson—which should not have been a split decision—Dan Henderson, Anderson Silva and Volkan Oezdemir. Unlike Jones, Cormier holds two stoppage victories over the incredibly dangerous Anthony Johnson. His amazing wrestling and brutal top control, which allowed him to either pound out or submit an opponent, and shockingly good cardio were too much for most opponents, but Cormier's striking got better and better over his career as well, evolving into a very dangerous weapon in its own right.

Cormier was also one of the smartest fighters the sport has ever seen, executing intricate game plans perfectly, which led him to beat many opponents who had athletic or physical advantages over him. Some will criticize his placement as he didn't spend more time at light heavyweight, but keep in mind that he was champion on and off from 2015 until he vacated the title in 2019, and was technically undefeated during that stretch with seven great wins, and the rematch loss to Jones being changed to a no contest after his foe tested positive for banned substances. That's a longer stretch of dominance than people realize, and comparable to those lower on the list.

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