Cormier on verge of fighting for third time in four weeks
What have you done this month? Strikeforce heavyweight and two-time Olympian Daniel Cormier has fought on two continents, won two championship belts, prepared for his third bout and moved into a new apartment. As he gets ready for the third bout, he laughed at the idea that he was crazy.
"Not crazy because of the way the first two went," Cormier told Cagewriter. "If I had gotten all cut up, then maybe. But these first two fights were a combined six and a half minutes. People keep asking if I've lost my mind, but we wrestled 2-3 times a week in college, and not easy wrestling matches. I've been trained to do this over the course of my wrestling career."
Cormier won the XMMA heavyweight championship in Australia on July 31 with a TKO of Lucas Brown. Two weeks later, he earned the King of the Cage belt with a quick TKO of Tony Johnson, Jr. This weekend, he'll face Jason Riley on the undercard of the Strikeforce: Houston card, a bout that will be aired online.
At King of the Cage bout, referee Cecil People made waves after an odd statement before Cormier's fight. When the two fighters came forward for pre-fight instructions, Peoples called the KOTC belt "the most prestigious in the world," an overreach at best.
Cormier says that he didn't hear what Peoples said at the time, and was surprised when he heard it after the fight. The normally talkative Cormier had trouble putting words to his reaction.
"I read comments the afterwards, and what do you say about that? I didn't hear it. What do you say? Maggie, have you ever heard me at a loss for words? Maybe he believes that. It's his opinion."
He has no trouble speaking when answering the question of whether or not he will fight his friend and the Strikeforce light heavyweight champ, Mo Lawal. Though Lawal said he's willing to fight at heavyweight, Cormier will not fight his friend.
"It won't happen. Mo and I wrestled a lot. You can't talk, you can't communicate. What people don't realize is that our relationship spans a decade. It's more than MMA. When he transferred to OSU, Mo was my guy. He's family to me, and I'd never take food out of his mouth. That's what happens when you fight, and I'd never try to hurt him."
But before he gets to that discussion, he has a fight to focus on, and then a new home to hang out in.
He spent the weekend between fights moving into a San Jose apartment with American Kickboxing Academy teammate Luke Rockhold, though he did cave in and decide to hire movers.
Now, Cormier is looking forward to winning his bout and relaxing in that new place.
"Hopefully, I can get one more win and then I'll be 5-0 in a year. After this, I'm looking forward to taking a few days to just relax. Most people say they want to go to the beach, or go on vacation. I just want to lay on my couch and play video games."
He won't have to look far for reminders of his success. Cormier said that the two belts are on his entertainment center, next to the X-Box.
