‘I Just Wasn’t As Good’

Daniel Cormier had one hell of a mixed martial arts (MMA) career.

It’s been two and a half years since Cormier retired from active competition, dropping a unanimous decision to Stipe Miocic in their UFC 252 trilogy bout. Cormier’s UFC career primarily saw him compete in the Light Heavyweight division, arriving on the scene after a successful Heavyweight grand prix run in Strikeforce before the promotion was absorbed by the MMA giant.

Cormier captured UFC Light Heavyweight gold before going on to become a two-division champion, dethroning Heavyweight kingpin, Miocic, in their first encounter in July 2018. Cormier successfully defended the title once, beating Derrick Lewis with a second-round rear-naked choke submission. It was at this point that “DC” felt is probably when he should have put a bow on his Hall of Fame career.

“I probably would have retired after I beat Stipe the first time or beat Derrick Lewis,” Cormier said of his career regrets at a UFC 285 Heavyweight fan Q&A. “Just to be done. Because I threw my back out and I just wasn’t as good.

“Also, I might not have thrown that kick against Frank [Mir],” he added. “You remember that kick I tried to do? When I jumped and tried to kick you. You looked at me like, ‘What the f—k are you doing?’ I might have not did that in the Octagon because people still make fun of me about jumping trying to kick Frank. They called me the Kung-Fu Panda.”

In regards to Cormier’s fight with Mir, it was the future champion’s promotional debut. Cormier won a relatively one-sided unanimous decision, bly left a lasting impression in a much different way than he had hoped to.