Exclusive Interview with Daniel Cormier

STRIKEFORCE heavyweight Daniel Cormier is one of the most accomplished amateur wrestlers ever to compete in mixed martial arts. A two-time Olympian, his mat skills garnered him an invitation to impart his grappling wisdom on the latest edition of The Ultimate Fighter as part of Josh Koscheck’s team of coaches. The affable Cormier has earned an undefeated 6-0 record, and has won two heavyweight titles outside of STRIKEFORCE, including the XMMA and King of the Cage belts. I had a chance to chat with probably the best Heavyweight prospect in mixed martial arts Daniel Cormier.

WHATDADIZZLE: DC!!!  Daniel, What Da Dizzle?

DC: Nothing much man, good man, just laying back chilling. Training, it’s all the same, everything stays the same, I live in a never-ending cycle.

WHATDADIZZLE: First off, congratulations on the win. What would you grade your performance and how did it feel to go three rounds for the first time in your career?

DC: Obviously, going three rounds was difficult, and I think it’s going to be hard for anybody in a fight for fifteen minutes. I think the average street fight last for 20sec, so to fight for fifteen minutes was difficult.

When it comes to grading my performance. I’m kind of a perfectionist, I expect a lot out of myself. Initially I thought it was real …, but then after going back and watching it, I think I did a lot of positive things. I think the first round I did a good job of kickboxing, controlling the center of the cage. Second round I was able to control him on the ground, full control with wrestling and positional control and then in the third round when I did attack and press the action I was able to land punches and take him down and do everything else. I just think I wasn’t active enough in the third round, that was the biggest concern.

WHATDADIZZLE: I can see your fight game improving as evident by your fight with Devin Cole. Is there any chink in the armor that your really looking to improve on?

DC: Yes, I gotta get better at my stand up because a lot of the best guys in the world are top level strikers and I gotta straighten my punches out more and learn how to turn them over a little bit better and just focus on stand up and Ju-jusitsu…everything is still a work in progress.

WHATDADIZZLE:  Your career in the cage is really taking off, and you’ve been fighting a lot, once three times in a month. Do you think you can maintain that type of activity?

DC: Actually see with Devin Cole I had to go the whole 15 min and I haven’t fought since. I think as my level of competition grows, fights are gonna be harder to finish and there gonna be more intense and bigger battles. I’m not gonna be able to three times in three weeks. If I had war in those three weeks when I fought in August I’m pretty sure one of the other fights wouldn’t have went on as planned. But I was able to get those dudes outta there early, so I was able to keep pressin’ on and moving forward. As the competition rises, I don’t anticipate being able to fight as often as I have. I think at the point in my career it was important for me to get as much experience as possible and I think we did that.

WHATDADIZZLE:  I’ve known you for years now and even though you’ve made a lot of money now, you have always remained the same affable guy. How do you maintain that attitude with the kind of success you’ve had?

DC: I think it’s just the individual that I am and the person that my mom raised. A person that’s approachable, a person that cares about the people that care about him, and people that are important to him. I truly believe that money that doesn’t make the person. Whatever you do with money is what you do with money, the money is gonna come, and the money is gonna go. If you allow that to change you, anything can change you, if you gonna allow a little bit of money to change you. Regardless of the amount of money that I’ve made or the amount of money that I’m gonna make, it doesn’t matter because it’ll never change me because in the grand scheme of things it just isn’t that important.

WHATDADIZZLE: How does it feel to train with a football legend like Hershel Walker?

DC: It’s good training with Hershel man. It’s kinda inspiring for somebody at his age to come into our gym and be able to train at the level that he has. Not only training with him, but actually being a coach to him and helping him with his gift and it’s exciting to see how someone can be such a great athlete at a high level for so long. I watch him, and he’s like a sponge, everything you throw at him he soaks it up. It’s inspiring in a sense to watch him and compete against him on a daily basis learn ju-jitsu but I’m there to help him and prepare him as he moves forward in his career.

WHATDADIZZLE: With MMA growing more popular and one of the strongest bases being wrestling, do you think Wrestlers competing in the Olympics will diminish?

DC: I think that’s only natural because of the amount of money that guys are making, you’ll start seeing guys move on a lil bit earlier then they would normally. You’ll start loosing guys a little bit more to mixed martial arts, they won’t see their Olympic careers through and it’s unfortunate. I think with the lure of money and the base that wrestling has given these guys they’ve already got a foot up on everybody else. So, you gonna see some guys move over but you’re also gonna see our best guys continue to wrestle and pursue Olympic gold medals. It’s life long dreams that these guys have and the best ones are gonna pursue to the fullest extent. Other guys that are in the middle of the road or extremely talented but don’t have a realistic shot at the Olympic team will probably move on and make a lot of money and be successful in Mixed Martial Arts.

WHATDADIZZLE: You’re a champion of anti-bullying with http://www.werekickinit.com. Can you tell the people why it’s important to support programs like these?

DC: Yea man because the one thing you don’t want is kids feeling as if they are alone. Especially in bullying situations that they have nobody to turn to. In reality, more people than you think have actually dealt with it. Being an outlet for kids who are dealing with the same situations that some of the guys have dealt with growing up like myself, Mayhem and Scott Smith and others I think you should give them an outlet. You let’em know you’re not weird because your bullied…sometimes your just in a bad situation and can’t find your way out, but knowing all these guys you look up to have dealt with the situation and came out of it, it’s good for these kids to have and look at it and say I’m not alone in it. With the help of We’re Kickin It and the guys we can actually get through it.

WHATDADIZZLE: Tell us about Team Thirsty?

DC: Team Thirsty gives kids positive role models not from a far like the NFL and NBA guys. Positive by relating to them and being within arms reach by not only giving financially but physically supporting these kids. We’re rebranding everything. King Mo was just in New Orleans a couple weeks ago speaking to a high school students. The goal and the mission is the same. Provide positive role models and financial support for some of these inner city youth programs. We’re going to do this the right way this time.

WHATDADIZZLE: There’s some members on Team Thirsty that aren’t fighting professionally yet, one of which is Shawn Bunch.  He’s been training on his boxing and looking pretty good.  Do you see him competing at the professional fight level soon?

DC: Yea man, I think Bunch is one of those guys that we think about when I say their gonna follow their Olympic dreams through because he is the number one and two guy every single year and is right on the cusp of being on the Olympic team. So Shawn is gonna see his career through and then he’s got opportunities…Bellator wants him right now, their interested in him. He’s an exciting guy and he’s a good athlete, extremely quick, explosive and committed. Shawn has already got some opportunities to fight and with the UFC adding 135 and 145. The Olympics are 2012 August, by January 2013 he’ll be fighting in Bellator or the UFC.

WHATDADIZZLE: Do you have a nickname/fight name yet?

DC: Naw man I don’t have a nickname… nothing ever just stuck so people just call me DC like in my normal like and I’m fine with that. (Haha)

WHATDADIZZLE: Anything you want to say to your fans?

DC: Yea man. Thanks for all the support…I’m a continue to improve continue to my craft, get better and hopefully one day be a world champion. Follow me on Twitter at Cormier2010, find me on Facebook I add everyone Daniel Cormier. I want to thank everyone, my team at A.K.A. (American Kickboxing Academy), my management Zinkin Entertainment and all my coaches.