Daniel Cormier Hails Cael Sanderson’s MMA record; calls him the greatest competitor he has ever faced


Daniel Cormier Hails Cael Sanderson’s MMA record; calls him the greatest competitor he has ever faced

sandersonnn 1


Cael Sanderson of Iowa State defeated Daniel Cormier of Oklahoma State 8-4 for the national title in the 184-pound weight class at the 2001 NCAA wrestling championships, hosted by the University of Iowa recently.

ADVERTISEMENT

Daniel Cormier’s Wrestling Career


At college, he was a two-time junior college national champion at 197 pounds, in 1998 and 1999. His record was 61-0, with 33 falls.

After College, Cormier transferred to Division I Oklahoma State University. In 2000, Cormier went 26-5. He entered the national tournament as the #3 seed at 184 pounds but fell one match short of becoming an all-American (given to the top 8 finishers in each weight class).

In 2001, Cormier went 27-5. He became an all-American by reaching the finals of the 184-pound weight class, in which he lost to Cael Sanderson 8-4. His final record was 53-10, with 27 falls.

ADVERTISEMENT

After graduating, Cormier went on to have a successful career in Freestyle Wrestling. He was the senior U.S. national champion every year from 2003–2008 and represented team USA at the world level for each of those years.

He competed at 96 kg or 211.6 lbs. At the 2004 Olympics, he came 4th after losing to Khadzhimurat Gatsalov in the semifinals.

Cormier was also 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.

Cormier Praises Cael Sanderson’s MMA Record


DC took to twitter praise his college wrestling rival Cael Sanderson as the greatest competitor he has ever faced.

ADVERTISEMENT


In 2001, Cormier went 27-5. He became an all-American by reaching the finals of the 184-pound weight class, in which he lost to Cael Sanderson 8-4. His final record was 53-10, with 27 falls. 6 of Cormier’s losses were to Cael Sanderson.

Cormier vs Miocic


As the trilogy stands, Cormier will challenge the heavyweight champion, Stipe Miocic one more time before he bids farewell to the sport of MMA.

Daniel Cormier beat Stipe Miocic in the first encounter via KO while Stipe Miocic beat Daniel Cormier in the rematch via TKO.

The final fight is set to end things once and for all.

ADVERTISEMENT

Also Read: Alex Volkanovski’s savage troll on UFC great after ‘overgrown midget’ jibe