Daniel Cormier Biography

Daniel Cormier is an American mixed martial artist and former Olympic wrestler. He is also signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former two-division world champion, having held the heavyweight and light heavyweight world championships at the same time. He is the second of four fighters in UFC history to hold titles in two weight classes at the same time.

Daniel Cormier Age|Birthday

Daniel was born on March 20, 1979, in Lafayette, Louisiana. He is 40 years old as of 2019. He celebrates his birthday on March 20 every year.

Daniel Cormier Family|Parent

Cormier was born in Lafayette Louisiana to Joseph and Audrey Cormier. He has a sister named Felicia, an older brother named Joseph and a younger brother named Ferral. His father was shot and killed on Thanksgiving Day in 1986 by the father of his second wife when Cormier was seven years old.

Daniel Cormier Wife|Daughter

Cormier is married to Salina Deleon in June 2017 and they were blessed with two children named Daniel Cormier II born on February 16, 2011, and Kaedyn Cormier and Marquita Kalani Cormier. His son Daniel trains in amateur wrestling at AKA, and his father is the assistant coach. He previously married Robin his former girlfriend and together they had a daughter who died in a car accident on June 14, 2003.

Daniel Cormier Education|Wrestling

He won 3 Louisiana state championships in wrestling when he was in high school at Northside High School. In his High School the final record was 101-9, with 89 of his victories coming by a fall. He was then voted twice for being the most outstanding wrestler of the state tournament. In 1995, Daniel won a bronze medal in the world championships in Greco-Roman Wrestling, in the cadet of (15–16 years old) division.

He was also an all-state football player at high school and in the linebacker position and he had a personal best time of 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash. He declined a scholarship that he had been offered to play at LSU so that he may continue to pursue wrestling. He went on and attended Colby Community College after high school, where he was a two-time junior college national champion with 197 pounds, in 1998 and 1999. His record was 61-0, with 33 falls.

When he left Colby he transferred to Division I wrestling powerhouse at Oklahoma State University. He joined the national tournament at the #3 seed in 184 pounds but he fell a one match short of becoming an all-American (given to the top 8 finishers in each weight class). After reaching the finals of the 184-pound weight class, he lost to Cael Sanderson 8-4 and he became an all-American.

Records of his final were 53-10, with 27 falls. Six of his losses were against Cael Sanderson. He went on to have a successful career in Freestyle Wrestling after graduating from OSU with a degree in sociology. Every year from 2003 to 2008, he became the senior in the U.S. national champion and he represented Team USA at the world level for each of those years.

He, therefore, took the 4th place after losing to Khadzhimurat Gatsalov in the semi-finals at the 2004 Olympics. He was also a member of the 2008 Olympic wrestle team for the USA, where he was named the team captain, but he was pulled from the competition due to kidney failure that was brought on by excessive weight cutting.

Daniel Cormier Quick facts

Height: 5 feet 11 inches (180 cm)
Weight: 236.5 lb (107.3 kg; 16.89 st)
Eye Colour: Dark brown
Hair Colour: Black
Nationality: American
Race|ethnicity: Black

Daniel Cormier Net Worth

Cormier is an American mixed martial artist and former Olympic wrestler who has a net worth of $6 million dollars.

Daniel Cormier Mixed martial artist

He decided to pursue a career in Martial arts after the 2008 Olympics. He is signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a two-division world champion, having held the heavyweight and light heavyweight world championships simultaneously. He is also the second of four fighters in UFC history to hold titles in two weight classes simultaneously. Before he joined the UFC, he was a Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion and King of the Cage Heavyweight Champion.

He holds the distinction of winning a world championship belt in every promotion which he has fought. The UFC president Dana White and UFC commentator Joe Rogan are among the numerous mixed martial arts (MMA) pundits who considered Daniel as one of the greatest mixed martial arts fighters of all time. He is also an analyst and commentator of the UFC.

He is #5 in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings, #1 in the UFC heavyweight rankings and #6 in the UFC light heavyweight rankings. He made his promotional debut against Frank Mir on April 20, 2013, at UFC on Fox 7. He won the fight via a consistent decision. Due to Cain Velasquez, his teammate, being the UFC heavyweight champion, he himself considered moving down to the UFC’s light heavyweight division.

Some writers expressed their doubt in Daniel’s ability to cut down the 205 limits safely and citing the fact that he had suffered from kidney failure during his time as an Olympic wrestler when he tried to make 211 lbs. After him failing to compete at the Olympics, he gained 40 lbs. In his second UFC fight, Daniel faced Roy Nelson on October 19, 2013, at the UFC 166. He then won the fight via consistent decision.

Before the bout, he announced that win or lose, he then moved down the light heavyweight division. He weighed in for the bout more with more than 20 pounds lighter than previous contests, at 224 pounds. He was then expected to face Rashad Evans at UFC 170 on February 22, 2014, in his first fight at light heavyweight. His injured leg knocked Evans off the card and ten days before the event, he was replaced by newcomer Patrick Cummins.

Daniel won the fight via TKO in the first round. He was briefly linked to a bout with Rafael Cavalcante on July 5, 2014, at the UFC 175 and he announced that Cormier would instead be fighting Dan Henderson on May 24, 2014, at UFC 173. After him dominating the fight with wrestling in the top game, he won technical submission in the third round. He was then chosen as a spokesperson in the new Cage Fighter signature by wrestling shoe when he competed for the exhibition wrestling match against Chris Pendleton during the UFC Fan Expo.

Daniel Cormier Stipe Miocic

Daniel is scheduled to defend the UFC Heavyweight Championship with a rematch against Stipe Miocic on August 17, 2019, at UFC 241. Daniel who had not fought in the UFC heavyweight division prior to the title fight last July, believes Miocic, a record-setting champion in his own right, needed to earn his No. 1 contender status before being granted a rematch.

Daniel Cormier Strikeforce

He signed an eight-fight deal with Strikeforce organization and debuted at Strikeforce Challengers: Kennedy vs. Cummings, defeating Gary Frazier by TKO. Daniel fought at the event Strikeforce Challengers: Johnson vs. Mahe on March 26, 2010, in Fresno, California, where he defeated John Devine by KO. Thereafter, he fought Strikeforce: Houston event on August 21, 2010, defeating Jason Riley via submission (punches) at 1:02 into the fight.

His next fight was with Devin Cole at the Strikeforce Challengers: Woodley vs. Saffiedine event on January 7, 2011, in Nashville, Tennessee. He won via a consistent decision his first-time fight had gone a distance. He was scheduled to face Shane del Rosario at Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum on June 18, 2011, in Dallas, Texas, but his opponent was involved in a car accident and he withdrew from the bout. He instead faced Jeff Monson and won via decision. He used his striking to dominate Monson on the feet and he did not allow any takedowns, negating the submission of Monson’s ability.

Daniel Cormier Xtreme MMA

After the 2008 Olympics, Daniel decided to pursue a career in mixed martial arts. He trained together with Cain Velasquez, Jon Fitch, and Josh Koscheck at the American Kickboxing Academy. This helped him to improve as a striker and submission wrestler. After making his professional debut in September 2009, he traveled to Australia and fought for Xtreme MMA.

He, therefore, defeated Lucas Browne to win the XMMA Heavyweight Championship on July 31, 2010. Two weeks later, he won his second MMA title by winning the KOTC Heavyweight Championship from Tony Johnson. He then landed a solid punch on Johnson in the first round, causing his larger opponent to shoot in, but he quickly gained the advantage with superior wrestling and grappling and won the fight via rear-naked choke.

Daniel Cormier Cormier vs. Jones

Cormier was expected to face UFC light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones, at UFC 178 on September 27, 2014, after Alexander Gustafsson was forced to withdraw due to a torn meniscus. However, on August 12, Jones, citing an injury, was forced to pull out of the bout. The fight eventually took place at UFC 182. At UFC 182 Cormier was defeated by Jon Jones via unanimous decision. Both fighters were awarded a Fight of the Night bonus.

Daniel Cormier Light Heavyweight Champion

He was expected to face Ryan Bader on June 6, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 68. On April 28, 2015, it was then announced that Jon Jones had been stripped of the heavyweight light championship and suspended indefinitely after facing felony charges stemming from the traffic accident in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Cormier was later on pulled from the Bader fight and replaced by Jones against Anthony Johnson on May 23, 2015, at UFC 187 for the vacant title.

In the opening seconds of the fight, Daniel was dropped by an overhand right by Johnson. He went on and won the next two rounds and he submitted Johnson by a rear-naked choke in the third round to become the new UFC light heavyweight champion. And the last time the championship changed hands was in 2011. The fight earned Daniel a Performance of the Night bonus. He faced Alexander Gustafsson on October 3, 2015, at UFC 192.

Daniel won the back-and-forth fight via split decision (47–48, 48–47, and 49–46). Their performance earned both participants Fight of the Night honors. Cormier stated that he had signed a new, eight-fight contract with the UFC in November 2015. The rematch with Jon Jones was expected to take place on April 23, 2016, at UFC 197. However, he pulled out the fight on April 1 citing a foot injury and was replaced by Ovince Saint Preux.

Daniel Cormier Jon Jones rematch and controversy

The rematch with Jon Jones took place on July 29, 2017, at UFC 214 in the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Jones defeated Cormier, after recapturing the light heavyweight championship via knockout in the third round, after a head kick and a barrage of strikes on the ground. In his post-fight interview, a tearful and emotional Cormier showed his disappointment of the defeat and he said: “I guess if he wins both fights there is no rivalry.”

Commentator Joe Rogan issued an apology on Twitter to Daniel after the fight for interviewing him when he could not gather his thoughts due to the knock out he suffered from the fight. On August 22, an announcement came that Jones had been flagged for a potential doping violation by USADA stemming from his test sample that was collected after weigh-ins on July 28. He tested positive for Oral Turinabol, an anabolic steroid.

Jones was placed on a provisional suspension as a result of the positive drug test and was expected to be afforded a full adjudication process. On September 13, USADA confirmed that the “B” sample of Jones’ tested positive for Turinabol. As a result the CSAC officially changed the bout result to a no-contest and the light heavyweight championship that returned to him. On September 18, Cormier had an interview with TMZ, that said he is open to the third fight with Jon Jones after Jones’s suspension is served.

Daniel Cormier Heavyweight Champion

He faced Stipe Miocic during the UFC heavyweight championship on July 7, 2018, at UFC 226. He then won the fight via knockout in the first round and thus becoming the second fighter to hold the two titles simultaneously in the UFC. He was one of the four fighters to have held two UFC championships simultaneously and the only one to defend one of the belts on August 17, 2019. This fight earned him the Performance of the Night award.

Brock Lesnar emerged from the audience and he came into the octagon to accept the challenge by the new champion. The UFC announced that Cormier would be making his first defense of his heavyweight championship against Derrick Lewis at UFC 230 on October 9. He successfully defended the heavyweight belt against Lewis via rear-naked choke in the second round, and him becoming the first man to submit Lewis in MMA.

This made him the first UFC fighter to win and defend both the Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight belts, and the first UFC fighter to be in the double champion and he successfully defended both belts. The day before UFC 232, he relinquished the light heavyweight title with his focus solely on defending the heavyweight title stating: “I’d rather walk away from this way than have the history books say I was stripped”.

Since the potential matchup with Brock Lesnar, he never materialized, with Lesnar instead opting to re-sign with the WWE, and he decided to fight Miocic again. The rematch took place on August 17, 2019, at UFC 241, just over a year since their first fight. Cormier lost the fight by TKO in the fourth round, ending his reign as heavyweight champion.

Daniel Cormier Retirement

Daniel Cormier said he might Retire after the UFC 241 Fight vs. Stipe Miocic. “I always said that I was gonna fight [until I was 40],” he said. “I couldn’t make that one, so if I hold true to what I was saying, then this would be the final one.”

Daniel Cormier Post heavyweight championship reign

On September 23, Cormier on Ariel Helwani’s ESPN MMA Show said his next fight will be his last one and targeting Stipe Miocic for a trilogy fight for the UFC Heavyweight Championship.

Daniel Cormier Olympics

He was once a member of the 2008 Olympic wrestling team for the USA, where he was named team captain, but was pulled from competition due to kidney failure, brought on by excessive weight cutting.

Daniel Cormier vs Stipe Miocic

Frequently Asked Questions About Daniel Cormier

Who is Cormier?

Daniel Cormier is an American mixed martial artist and former Olympic wrestler.

How old is Daniel?

He is 40 years old as of 2019.

How tall is Cormier?

He stands at a height of 5 feet 11 inches (180 cm)

Is Daniel married?

Yes, he is married and he is married to Salina Deleon.

How much is Cormier worth?

He is an American mixed martial artist and former Olympic wrestler who has an estimated net worth of $6 million dollars.

How much does Daniel make?

He has not revealed the amount of income that he earns to the public view but the information will be updated as soon as it is availble.

Where does Cormier live?

He lives in Lafayette, Louisiana U.S.A together with his family.

Is Daniel dead or alive?

He is still alive and in good health.

What happened to Daniel?

He almost died from kidney failure during the 2008 Olympics while he was trying to make weight.

Daniel Cormier Social Media

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Instagram

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