Daniel Cormier: Seeds of the Mat

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Cormier’s Olympic preparations were shaken by tragedy: His 3-month-old infant daughter, Kaedyn, born to then-girlfriend Carolyn, was in a baby seat in her mother’s best friend’s car when they were rear-ended by an 18-wheeler. Cormier’s firstborn was the only passenger killed in the accident on June 14, 2003. He was faced with a father’s worst nightmare -- something no parent should ever experience -- but continued on to twice qualify for the Olympics. Cormier narrowly missed a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens. He politely declined the recruitment efforts of professional wrestling’s major promotion, World Wrestling Entertainment, shortly after, citing desire to wrestle at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. There, he captained the United States team, only to suffer kidney failure while attempting to reach the 211-pound weight limit, forcing his exit from the competition.

“After the Olympics, s--- was [expletive] up, man,” Cormier said. “I was depressed.”

Cormier worked at a television station in Oklahoma selling advertising, his competitive athletic cycle disappearing in the distance behind him. He was playing too many video games and drinking too much Hennessy; and his marriage to his high school sweetheart and first wife, Robin, was ending. He ballooned to 260-plus pounds. Disappointed in himself, Cormier wrestled with the feeling that he had let down too many people.

“It sucked,” he said. “There’s something inside of me, bro. I’m so competitive. I was not getting that in that field. I needed something else.”

Cormier remembered Zinkin’s number. He called Koscheck and was connected to Zinkin in late 2009. A few weeks after reconnecting, he tried out at a world-class fight gym in San Jose: the American Kickboxing Academy. Javier Mendez, the head coach at the famed facility, was onboard with Cormier joining the camp.

“I don’t know about him as a fighter, but I want him anyways,” Mendez told Zinkin. “That guy is a hell of a [wrestling] coach. I want him here. You got my vote. I don’t even have to see him spar.”

SPROUTING NEW LIFE

Cormier’s passion for wrestling and command of the room collected instant respect at the American Kickboxing Academy, the same way Smith had from the Louisianan nearly a decade prior. Trainer and manager “Crazy” Bob Cook admits Cormier’s raw potential for mixed martial arts was apparent.

“Whether from street fighting or natural athleticism,” Cook said, “whatever you want to attribute to, he did have a gift for landing punches.”

Mendez attributes it to Cormier being able to witness a technique and apply it immediately, even with a twist, during sparring rounds. During rest breaks, Cormier walks around and dissects any available advice from coaches, eager to stick it to his opponent in the next frame. The confidence in his wrestling opens up his strikes: “I’m taking you down -- if I want to.”

It is not unusual to see Cormier turn training partner Cain Velasquez into “air Cain,” according to Mendez, as one wrong move sends the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion airborne during a “DC” takedown. There is a difference between an Olympic wrestler and a stellar collegiate wrestler like Velasquez. However, this is MMA, and Cormier admits his first encounter with Velasquez, who was just months away from winning the UFC heavyweight crown at the time, was brutal.

“I was going for a minute and a half before I would have to roll underneath the ring after he beat the s--- out of me,” Cormier said. “It was terrible, absolutely terrible.”

Within a month of training to fight, Cormier made his professional MMA debut during a Showtime-televised Strikeforce Challengers event on Sept. 25, 2009. It was the only one of his first six bouts -- all finishes -- that went to round two. As Cormier’s new career realigned his competitive spirit, he met Salina Deleon in January 2010, getting his personal life back on track, too.

She is now the mother to his children: 3-year-old Daniel Jr. and 2-year-old Marquita Kalani. Cormier and Salina were engaged this summer.

Just like in Cormier’s wrestling career, MMA accelerated quickly. He fought six times in his first 14 months as a pro. Cormier in his early days in the gym regularly and loudly confronted Cook about having to do more rounds than everyone else: “Why you always picking on me, Bob?” Cook coolly and callously informed him that it was because “tougher competition sooner” was on the horizon. The back-and-forth regularly manifested from Cormier’s confidence in his wrestling background. Cook directed him to drill getting up off his back. Cormier’s reply: “Why? I’m not going to be there. I won’t get taken down.”

It is difficult to get wrestlers to believe wrestling is not everything. Cormier sometimes did not have the luxury to rely on his wrestling training with Velasquez during striking rounds. There, he was educated the hard way. “DC” toyed with the idea of fighting southpaw -- against Cook’s wishes -- and was warned that it was no way to mess around. Velasquez landed a kick square on Cormier’s nose, blood gushed and he committed to the idea that he would never fight anyone tougher.

The relationship between Velasquez and Cormier has been a significant part of the gym and the sport. Arguably the two best heavyweights in the world, they will never fight because Velasquez views Cormier as coach first, sparring partner second; and Cormier treats that role reverently, especially since the Mexican-American pushed him to fighting’s championship level with a trial-by-fire mutual empowerment.

“It went fast, man,” Cormier said when asked about his ascent. “I went from no fights to being ranked top 10 in the world in less than 24 months, with no striking experience. I just knew how to wrestle.”

That is why Cormier’s belief in wrestling is unyielding. Because he dictates where the fight takes place, it enabled him to become one of the best fighters in the world before even gaining much experience. Wrestling is a tougher discipline in his estimation because MMA is more dangerous and there is more money involved, so there is a stopping point. Sparring has a pause, if needed, to protect investment. In wrestling, the money is not there to fight over; there is only pride.

Cormier first gained world-class acclaim as a mixed martial artist between the summer of 2011 and 2012, as he went from Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix alternate to tournament winner. Everyone -- his camp, the fans, media and even Cormier himself -- thought it might be too soon. Still, he defeated Antonio Silva via knockout and former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett in a dominant 25-minute performance to win the grand prix, the original field for which included Fedor Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum.

“I feel like a champion; I’ve won some belts in MMA,” Cormier said. “I’m proud of every accomplishment. No one is less than the other to me.”

Cormier has never been taken down in 15 professional fights. He has only lost one round -- the fifth frame to Barnett -- on one scorecard. Most recently, he handed former two-division Pride Fighting Championships titleholder Dan Henderson the most lopsided loss of his career. While MMA has given Cormier more money than he ever imagined, competition was never about the money. Instead, it is “about a lifetime of goals that I set as a kid,” namely becoming a world champion.

MMA, if you can believe it, has opened more doors than being on two Olympic teams, according to Cormier. The biggest advantage is that it pencils wrestling into his schedule at least twice a week, one way or another. Mendez credits Cormier with getting fighters to the big show who otherwise would not have graduated, growing them through wrestling.

“[MMA] allows me to still coach my kids’ [wrestling] teams,” Cormier said. “It allows me to go to any room in the country and still garner the respect of a champion.”

Still, Cormier had a ceiling as heavyweight: Velasquez. Right as he would typically be adding holiday weight in 2013, he volunteered to do a test weight cut to the light heavyweight limit of 205 pounds, six pounds below the weight that caused his body to seize up during the 2008 Olympics. Such a move would allow him to pursue the UFC light heavyweight title instead of constantly fielding questions about whether or not he would fight his teammate.

“Isn’t it better to have two champions than one?” Cormier asked his team.

That attitude is exactly why no one contested Cormier being named the American Kickboxing Academy captain following Jon Fitch’s departure from the gym more than a year ago. Between Cormier’s own pro fighting milestones, supporting Velasquez’s title reign, guiding teammates and launching kids’ wrestling at the gym, Cormier’s impact has been immeasurable.

CAREER-DEFINING OPPORTUNITY

Cormier unabashedly yells at kids if they do not stick with wrestling. Ask Mendez. His second son, Jeremy, quit wrestling in his early teens, and Mendez could tell Cormier “was pretty pissed” about it. Cormier concedes he is always disappointed when he sees a kid give up on wrestling, but he admits the sport can have a positive impact even with minimal exposure.

“Not everyone is going to wrestle forever,” he said. “Some will just wrestle for a little bit, just a few months, but the ones that come in and they try it, you can walk away because you learned lessons. Take those lessons in your life.”

Cormier’s kids’ program briefly reached No. 1 in California and has produced three state champions. He took seven kids to state last year, and six stood on the podium, good for a fourth-place tournament finish. Despite his success as a coach and fighter, Cormier understands he is inexorably linked to his failure in Beijing.

“I still deal with that,” he said. “It’s not gone. It’ll never go away.”

Cormier felt shunned by a majority of the wrestling community. He cannot say for sure whether or not he would have had the same reaction had his fate befallen someone else.

“It was tough because I did so many positive things in wrestling before that,” Cormier said, “not only for myself but for everyone.”

MMA lifted the weight of Beijing’s negativity. He wants to be remembered for the positives of his wrestling career, not the sacrilege that is missing weight for the Olympics.

“I love giving back [to wrestling], giving the gift that gave me an education, gave me a life [and] got me out of Louisiana,” Cormier said.

Cormier on Saturday has his chance to dethrone light heavyweight titleholder Jon Jones in the UFC 182 main event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The 27-year-old champion is the most decorated fighter in the history of the 205-pound division -- the marquee weight class that gave rise to some of the sport’s biggest names, from Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell to Wanderlei Silva, Quinton Jackson and Mauricio Rua. Cormier witnessed firsthand what becoming a UFC champion can do for a fighter’s life when he helped Velasquez reach the heavyweight summit.

“It’s massive,” Cormier said.

He sees every bead of sweat he left on the mat during his life as a seed, and he hopes it shoots up to block Jones from a record-setting eighth consecutive title defense inside the Octagon.

“When people don’t believe and they say, ‘Well, you can’t beat Jon Jones , it’s impossible’ ... Sure, whatever, I’ve heard that before,” Cormier said. “I couldn’t beat this guy. I couldn’t beat that guy. Even when I lost to Cael Sanderson -- every time -- I never conceded that when I got on that mat I didn’t have a chance to win.”

Mendez lists all that Cormier has lost in his career and reminds him of how it all folds into the moment he challenges Jones.

“Now he has the opportunity to become the best of the best, no questions about it, because he’s fighting the best there ever has been,” Mendez said. “To fight someone that’s the best there ever has been and you’re the best you have ever been, there’s going to be no excuses.”

Cook points out that Cormier’s confidence always determines a sure route to victory. It goes back to the first time he walked to the cage for a professional mixed martial arts fight. Out of shape and without any MMA knowledge, Cormier, tapping into his wrestling mindset, turned to Cook and said, “Don’t worry, Bob, I’m a gamer.”

Now in shape and armed with an extensive and respectable fight acumen at the sport’s highest level, Cormier has the chance to write the ending to one of the biggest title fights in UFC history. He has made believers out of those closest to him.

“He’s great in the gym,” Cook said, “but he’s even better when it’s fight time.”

Danny Acosta is a freelance writer that has contributed to FOX Sports and Maxim Magazine, among others. He can be heard weekly on the Sirius XM Fight Club for the “Acosta KO” segment (Sirius XM 92 Tuesdays 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT) and on his podcast Majority Draw Radio on iTunes, mobile and MMAweekly.com.