The Bottom Line: Daniel Cormier’s Redemption Lies at Heavyweight

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This was the week that Daniel Cormier’s life got turned upside down. Since childhood, Cormier has sought excellence through competitive athletics. The goal was always to prove himself the best. He fell just short in collegiate wrestling, running into the juggernaut that was Cael Sanderson. He suffered heartbreak in the Olympics, finishing fourth in 2004 before being pulled from the competition altogether in 2008 when his body shut down from weight cutting. When he entered MMA, the goal was again to make it to the top.

Cormier could have pursued the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title. At 13-0 with wins over Josh Barnett, Antonio Silva, Frank Mir and Roy Nelson, he was a force in the division. The problem was that close friend and training partner Cain Velasquez was champion. The teammates didn’t want to fight, so it made sense for Cormier to cut to light heavyweight. He could prove himself best in the world there. That line of thinking, of course, set him on a fateful collision course with Jon Jones.

Since Cormier dropped to light heavyweight two and a half years ago, being the best was defined in one simple way: beating Jones. Since he burst onto the UFC scene less than a month after his 21st birthday, Jones has displayed a level of skill and athleticism nearly unmatched in the history of the sport. With no real losses and victories over a who’s who of the sport, Jones has one of the most impressive resumes of any MMA fighter. Cormier targeted Jones, and they became intense rivals. Cormier needed to beat Jones in order to be the best.

The first time Jones and Cormier fought, “DC” fell short. It was a competitive fight, but Jones took four rounds on all the judges’ scorecards. Cormier needed to work his way back to get another shot at Jones, and he did just that. Cormier beat the two next best fighters in the division, breaking the most feared offensive force in the division in Anthony Johnson and then topping rangy Swedish favorite Alexander Gustafsson in an all-time classic fight.

In the process, Cormier became the UFC light heavyweight champion. Jones was forced to vacate the title after a hit-and-run incident, another chapter in a seemingly unending series of misconduct. The problem was that belt or no belt, Jones was still perceived to be the best. Beating Johnson and Gustafsson was an impressive accomplishment few fighters are capable of, but Jones still lingered.

When Jones and Cormier appeared together to promote their rematch, there was much discussion about why fans cheered Jones and booed Cormier. Cormier is one of the nicest people in the sport, a hard worker who has overcome personal tragedy. Jones, by contrast, has exhibited a remarkable sense of entitlement, making one mistake after another for pretty much the entirety of his adult life. Why would fans cheer Jones over Cormier? Jones tried to sell the idea of redemption, but the truth is fans like to cheer winners. Fans might perceive Cormier as the better person, but Jones was perceived as the better fighter, and no sports fan wants to spend hundreds of dollars for a ticket to cheer for the loser of a contest.

Cormier couldn’t change that perception by living his life the right way or, for that matter, working as hard as he possible could. He needed to win. Luckily for Cormier, he had that opportunity. He had his rematch with Jones and on the biggest platform possible, the main event of UFC 200. Cormier would have the opportunity to finally prove himself the best in the world, the quest of his life.

Only, he wouldn’t. Jones, the eternal screw-up, did what he always does. Following a test last year that showed suspiciously low levels of testosterone, Jones failed a drug test outright this time. A lot of people were negatively affected by Jones’ failure, but the biggest loser bar none was Cormier. Jones stole Cormier’s opportunity to prove himself to be the best. Cormier didn’t even have a chance to fight for it.

Anderson Silva stepped in to provide a fight for Cormier, but it was a win-win proposition for Silva and a lose-lose proposition for Cormier. Silva was beloved for his courage, a legend stepping into action on extremely short notice for the good of the fans and the event. It didn’t matter whether he won or lost. Cormier, on the other hand, was stuck. His fight with Silva was presented as a make good for the fans. They knew Cormier could outwrestle a significantly smaller man fighting on extremely short notice. That wouldn’t prove all that much. They wanted to see what would happen in the standup. It was an understandable sentiment, but on the flipside, it would be crazy for Cormier to get into a standup battle with arguably the greatest standup artist in the history of the sport. Cormier did the sensible thing and went to his wrestling. He got roundly booed for it and watched the reservoir of goodwill he’d built up go away. Again, that was Jones’ fault.

Going forward, Cormier is in another quandary of Jones’ creation. Cormier is the light heavyweight champion, but Jones is still considered the better fighter. Cormier needs a win over Jones at 205 pounds to change the perception. That’s not even remotely fair, but it’s the reality. Jones may not be back until Cormier is 39 years old, so the clock is ticking much more on “DC” than Jones.

Under different circumstances, Cormier could prove his light heavyweight supremacy through a series of scintillating performances in Jones’ absence. The problem is the opponents just aren’t there. Cormier already beat Johnson and Gustafsson. The next contenders in the UFC rankings are Glover Teixeira, Ryan Bader, Ovince St. Preux, Mauricio Rua and Rashad Evans. None of them would represent a career-defining win at this stage, and worse, Jones has beaten all of them already. Light heavyweight doesn’t have any rising young fighters who look like future superstars, either. Jones will continue to hang over everything.

There’s another route for Cormier. He can return to where he started, the division where he remains 13-0. He can make the move back to heavyweight. The move is not without risk. Cormier was among the smaller heavyweights. However, there was an upside to that. Cormier had an edge in speed at heavyweight that hasn’t been there at 205 pounds. It was his speed and movement that gave Silva, Barnett and Nelson fits. He was dominant in the weight class.

Unlike at light heavyweight, where there are few challenges left for Cormier, there are plenty at heavyweight. How would Cormier deal with Stipe Miocic’s speed and boxing? How would Cormier match up with heavyweight strikers like Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos? What if Brock Lesnar wants to fight again in the UFC? Would his size be enough to overcome Cormier’s superior overall technique?

It’s possible Cormier would struggle against some of these fighters, but it’s far from a given. Cormier was a beast in the weight class already, and he could add muscle mass and power that he has lost to make his weight cut manageable. Moreover, the question about how he would do is precisely why the stakes are higher. Randy Couture and B.J. Penn proved that taking on bigger obstacles can create a larger-than-life legacy. Cormier could join them as the only fighters to win titles in two weight classes. He is a fighter who cares about legacy, and if Jones is out for two years, the legacy-defining fights are at heavyweight, not light heavyweight.

Velasquez still lingers. Cormier and Velasquez are no more interested in fighting each other than they were before. However, Velasquez is no longer the heavyweight champion, and there’s no guarantee he will be again, as he hasn’t been able to fight as often in recent years. Since Velasquez and Cormier fought together at UFC 166, Cormier has fought six times while Velasquez has fought twice. There is no guarantee that one will ever end up in the way of the other, and they have plenty of interesting fights either way. Plus, Velasquez has already held the heavyweight championship twice and is younger than Cormier. If push came to shove, he could do his friend a solid and let Cormier go for the title first.

Cormier is likely to be resistant to moving back to heavyweight at first. He has put so much effort into moving to the light heavyweight class, and he holds the title there. Jones will remain in his mind for quite some time. When he has time to think and size up the landscape, however, it should become clear how much more there is for him back at heavyweight than at light heavyweight. It’s not ideal, but ideal flew out the window on July 6. The best path for Cormier now is away from Jones and the division over which he still hangs, towards a place he can excel on his own terms.