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The undead have descended into downtown Manhattan: skeletons and demons, zombies and vampires, not to mention the electrifying spectral presence of some Ghost Pikachu-like creature. Sliding on shady sidewalks in the best of their Halloween night, these haunted souls pay no attention while an SUV slows down near Renzo Gracie's Jiu-Jitsu studio on 30th Street and that's the best fighter from pound to pound of UFC climbs, lean but focused eyes. .
While sipping a cup of coffee, wearing a wrestling sweatshirt in the state of Oklahoma, Daniel Cormier walks around the doors of the room around 11 pm, at the scheduled time for another late-night training, three days before defending his heavyweight title against Derrick Lewis at Madison Square Garden. The room is stuffy and sweaty. Logos of dragons and lions adorn the walls. A plastic pumpkin sits on a desk, almost empty of its candy stock.
Soon, carpets buzz with activity, rap beats hitting a system of speakers. The wrapped joints, the kneaded muscles, Cormier spends first five minutes performing basic combos with boxing coach Rosendo Sanchez, grunting like a dizzying cowboy with every shot. YUH! YUH! Hyah! After stealing two puffs of inhaler and rapid breathing – carefully scheduled by head coach Chris Camacho – to simulate the break between rounds – Cormier joins combat coach Javier Mendez for wrestling exercises against the powerful style of Lewis. Finally, he finished with coach-hitter Rudy Mendoza. The entourage is great, but works with a clockwork efficiency.
Everything comes from the top. A former American from all over Oklahoma who wrestled in freestyle wrestling at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens – a tattoo of the five Olympic rings adorns his right calf – Cormier, 39 , is physically innocuous compared to most chiseled mixed martial artists: 5- foot-11, reach of 71 inches, paunch decent dad. But few, if any, are more intensely determined. If not, how can we keep the UFC light heavyweight belt for three and a half years, then return to its natural heavyweight in July and capture that crown too?
A handy fighter – his 21 wins split into 10 knockouts, four bids and seven decisions – Cormier is just as diverse outside the octagon. He runs a youth wrestling club at the San Jose-based American Kickboxing Academy (AKA), co-hosts a weekly UFC broadcast and occasionally participates in the competition. Soon, he will audition an analyst position with WWE, which was delayed only because Lewis's fight was announced at the last minute. "Such a good guy, a guy so smart and so badass," said UFC President Dana White. "One of the best so far."
Ed Mulholland / Zuffa LLC / Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
There is something else too. Lavoris Walker can explain. He is sitting against a wall at Renzo Gracie, watching Cormier's whipping in Mendoza through the studio. They became close friends because their respective partners are sisters; they are now co-owners of several hair salons that Walker operates in the Los Angeles area. Since Cormier has long been planning to retire after 40 years, Walker has begun to press for Cormier to be transferred. Until now, these efforts have been postponed. As Walker says, "It would take a lot to leave these kids."
Cormier was also named head coach of Gilroy High School's wrestling program less than seven months ago. No kidding. Check out the team's website. There is his personal email address, listed in a small font under CONTACT, with a hypertext link to "Coach Daniel Cormier". Better yet, go to the wrestling room in Gilroy. Hidden in the corner is the boss's office, which looks more like a wardrobe, with a small desk, a computer and storage bins.
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Located half an hour south of San Jose and one kilometer from Cormier's home, the public school had already defeated his predecessor, Greg Varela, setting records for individual winners and points at sectional championships from last year, where the Mustang had finished first. for the 16th consecutive time. In March 1996, Principal Marco Sanchez, who became the first (and always the only) Greco-Roman to represent Puerto Rico at the Olympic Games, had to bang into the void by soliciting e-mails and calls from all over the world. world of struggle.
"DC just arrived," says Sanchez. "Once I determined that he really wanted to take over, we stopped the research at that time. It was obvious. "
Chase Saldate is a 17-year-old junior at Gilroy, ranked nationally and weighing 138 pounds. She finished fourth in the States last season and recently enlisted in the state of Michigan. He also lives in a house other than Cormier in the same sunny Californian cul-de-sac. When the Cormiers moved for the first time in '12, about a year before the UFC fighter's debut, Saldate wondered if he would even meet his new neighbor. "I thought that he would be one of those guys who remained isolated, more isolated," he says.
It turned out that the opposite was true. Before long, Cormier organized lively neighborhood parties and organized basketball games, inviting members of his fighting team whenever they were in town. As wrestling comrades, he and Saldate naturally moved closer together. After learning that the teenager was competitive at the national level, Cormier began driving him every Tuesday in training to help him reduce his weight before the club matches. Today, every time Cormier trains for a fight, greet him and do all the same workouts.
It was through the Saldate family that Cormier learned of the existence of Gilroy's post. The five-minute ride aside, he was immediately intrigued. Since his debut at university, Cormier had always loved being a coach, that it was to help in youth clinics or to lead the AKA team that he had founded six years ago. Others in his camp were less than happy. Mendez and leader Bob Cook both expressed concern that Cormier was already too tense. As well as his wife, Salina. "She was like," Daniel, it's too much, it's crazy, "says Cormier. "And he's a very supportive person … But on this one, she was like," I do not know. If you do that, is it fair for us as a family but also for these children? Can you give the time they need? I told him, yes. "
Once Cormier accepted Gilroy's position, some of Saldate's teammates were also skeptical. How can such a famous person have time for us? Saldate knew better. Of course, not only has Cormier attended virtually every practice, but he also performs every series and performance alongside high school students and struggles with the Gilroy Heavyweight. As training for UFC 230 intensified last week, Cormier ran a sprint training on the treadmill while barking instructions in the wrestling room. "It's almost like you do not think he's a fighter or have anything else to do, because we'll see him at school," says Saldate.
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Like thousands of high school coaches across the country, Cormier has to deal with some banalities of logistics. In addition to completing an application through the Gilroy Unified School District, he has been tested for TB, has background checks and is certified in CPR. It helps organize fundraisers, fills out documents for car trips and occupies NCAA recruiting centers and college recruiters. "It's not enough to show up with a whistle and a fight," says Sanchez. "There is a lot to do."
Fortunately, Cormier asked for help. It does not accept any of the $ 3,000 (or more) that goes with the position, but divides that allocation into a cohort of teammates who contribute to sharing the workload. ("Here's the big joke of the league," says Sanchez. "He's the best-qualified and least-paid coach in the league.") There are Shawn Bunch and Kyle Crutchmer, fellow fighters who help in the practice of training if Cormier can not attend. And Camacho, who sometimes flies from Los Angeles to oversee the weekend lifts. And Deron Winn, a two-time junior university champion, stayed behind while everyone flew to Manhattan for UFC 230.
"Can you imagine me sitting around, trying to find the best price for hotels, trying to figure out what works?" Says Cormier. "I can only do it because of these guys. Because these guys allow me to stay focused on my fights, my commentary career and my work on TV, and when I leave, I feel that my team is not missing a step.
"Honestly, they are overqualified for coaching in high school."
The costumes are gone, with the exception of the usual crowd of Elmos and Buzz Lightyears, who are looking for tips, while Cormier blows his way through Times Square, explaining why a world-renowned fighter has begun to moonlight as a volunteer coach. For him, the calculation is simple. "The fight has helped build a better life," said Cormier. "I would not be where I am today without the sport of wrestling. So being able to do that, at any level, is just great. "
Jeff Bottari / Zuffa LLC / Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
It's Friday morning now. Moments earlier, Cormier officially weighed 251.2 pounds, more than 14 times lighter than Lewis. It's a comfortable weight in uncomfortable circumstances: as the heavy Lewis entered the camp already conditioned by fights in Las Vegas last month, Cormier's regular training schedule was going from eight to three weeks. "We're just trying to do everything we can to get the fastest form possible," said Mendez. "His first training session was horrible. We were like, "Oh, s — what are we doing?" Then his second was 50% better. Then I go, "Well, you know what, we can do it."
As usual, Cormier finds a way. The same thing was true at Gilroy. By leading his off-season national team and affiliate, the Hawks, Cormier is doing his business in his own way. This means that wrestlers must run six to nine miles each week, participate in fundraisers and be punished by sprints for delay. At the same time, their wrestling room was recently renovated and received new spiffy rugs, provided by a well-known MMA company from Cormier. If anyone needs help to reduce his weight on the road, Cormier still has a connection with a nearby gym. And guess who paid for the sushi dinner every night while the team was attending the Freak Show invitation in Las Vegas last month?
"Overall, dude, we have kids who bought," says Cormier. "They love it."
• THE BIG INTERVIEW: Available on SI TV now, an individual interview with heavyweight contender Derrick Lewis before the UFC 230.
Back in his hotel suite located on the 27th floor and overlooking Times Square, Cormier walks among the debris of a week in the city with his team: pizza boxes, empty McDonalds bags, open suitcases. He is now on a roll, quoting names of Gilroy wrestlers, all "children" in his eyes. "We have very good players that people do not know yet," he says. "Jayden Gomez is a stud farm. Victor Jacinto too. We have a senior citizen, Daniel Viscara. He had struggled so long in the same system that he was almost combative of what we were trying to do. Something clicked, right? He won the high school elite division at the Freak Show this year. "
Regardless of what will happen Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, Cormier said he would only argue once before retiring in the spring, likely to defend the heavyweight title against Brock Lesnar or to recover the light belt that will be disabled in December. . So what? "Yes, I'll be coaching for a while," he says. "J & # 39; appreciates."
There are several reasons why. Be fair around the sport, for beginners. "In practice, sitting on the floor while the kids are training, I think it's amazing," he says. "No b ——-, man." But more than anything, Cormier relishes relationships. As proof, he scrolls a recent thread of text with Gomez. It was about 10 pm the other night, Pacific time. After a brief exchange of information on the weight of the second student, Cormier smiles and passes on his phone:
CORMIER: Go to bed!
GOMEZ: Going to coach
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