Former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier believes a former teammate would have posed a significant challenge for him in a fight.
Across his legendary 26-fight career spanning two weight classes, only two individuals managed to defeat Cormier: Jon Jones at light heavyweight and Stipe Miocic at heavyweight.
Similar to his past opponents, Cormier is regarded as one of the all-time greats in fighting, holding six UFC title bout victories. `DC` competed against major figures in the light heavyweight division, including Jones (twice), Anderson Silva, Alexander Gustafsson, and the late, esteemed Anthony `Rumble` Johnson (also twice).
Having been retired from MMA for almost five years, Cormier recently offered his perspective on how a potential fight against the prominent Chael Sonnen at 205 lbs might have unfolded.
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Daniel Cormier states a fight against Chael Sonnen would have been very challenging.
Once training partners, Daniel Cormier recently coached the latest season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter 33’ facing off against Sonnen, who was one of the UFC’s major attractions due to his trash-talking abilities.
Sonnen notably contended for the UFC title three times across the middleweight and light heavyweight categories, experiencing losses to then-champion Anderson Silva twice and Jon Jones. A wrestler by background, Sonnen`s record in the leading promotion was 7-7, including victories against former champions Michael Bisping and Mauricio Rua.
It`s customary for coaches on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ reality show to compete against each other after filming concludes. Naturally, this won`t happen with the retired Cormier and Sonnen – however, the question arose: who would have prevailed in a light heavyweight matchup?
“It would have been such a hard fight,” Cormier commented on facing Sonnen during an interview with New York Post Sports.
“Chael was really good…”
“We trained together, and Sonnen provided some of the toughest training sessions I`ve ever experienced, even having trained with Luke Rockhold and Cain Velasquez throughout my career.”
“It was tough. Really difficult training sessions.”
“I would have faced a significant challenge because his fighting style closely resembled mine,” Cormier added.
Chael Sonnen acknowledges he never got the better of Daniel Cormier during training.
Cormier mentioned that he and Sonnen, both former analysts for UFC on FOX Tonight, used to train at Jay Glazer’s gym after finishing their broadcast duties.
While seated next to ‘DC’ after Cormier described him as a challenging opponent, Sonnen responded:
“That`s a wonderful compliment from Daniel, and I accept it, but he`s just being kind.”
“In those training sessions, I never managed to come out on top,” Sonnen clarified.
“However, we trained intensely. I could push him. It wasn`t a unproductive use of time for either of us, as we were both aiming to improve. I was competing in a different weight class [middleweight].”
“My ego can handle it, but I truly appreciate how gracious he is when he says that,” Sonnen remarked regarding Cormier’s comments.
Jack Thornley