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Daniel Cormier is my choice for "Fighter of the Year".
After the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) restored him to the rank of 205-pound champion, "DC" defended his light heavyweight title at UFC 220 by stopping Volkan Oezdemir and then won the 265-pound crown by eliminating Stipe Miocic at UFC 226. Four months later, the Louisianan defended his heavyweight title by bidding Derrick Lewis.
This makes him the only fighter in the history of the UFC to hold and defend league titles in two different weight classes (sorry, Conor).
Miocic, of course, was champion when he entered the cage last July, while Oezdemir and Lewis were ranked # 2 in their respective divisions. We're not talking about some "gimme" fights, but Cormier gives them that look because he's really good.
This should give you an idea of Jon Jones's specificity, because "Bones" is the only one able to handle "DC" – and he did it twice. Officially, it was only once, when the arrival of UFC 214 was reversed when "Bones" canceled his post-combat drug test.
Cormier is now at 22-1 (1 NC) after his second-round win over the "Black Beast" at the UFC 230 pay-per-view pay-TV event (PPV) on Saturday. November 3, 2018) (recap), a short notice case that was designed to prevent the promotion from making a big mistake.
Literally.
Not everyone was involved in the Cormier-Lewis fight, including Lewis, but Miocic's calls for revenge fell in the ear of a deaf man. Probably because the ex-champion is a bust at the box office and we have to face it, we were eliminated in the first round quite easily.
Outside Miocic, Curtis Blaydes was the next candidate available.
We can not really blame Cormier. He could have gone back to the light heavyweight to complete his trilogy with Jones; However, "DC" never saw the fight "Bones", which has since been entrusted to Alexander Gustafsson.
Assuming that this fight is bearing fruit, Cormier will be forced to give up his 205 pound title and stay on the heavyweight. That's where he will face ex-champion Brock Lesnar early in 2019, assuming that the WWE import can pass his mandatory testing.
Of course, this competition will likely be another one-sided defeat and a total loss of time, but Cormier deserved it after three consecutive title fights (and three consecutive finals) and Lesnar (for whatever reason) can still move the PPV needle.
That means a lot of money for Cormier.
Other fighters have won more victories in 2018, including Israeli Israel Adesanya (sample), but "The Last Stylebender" – as fantastic as it seemed – did not fight the level of competition that "DC" has never had to compete with. with a title on the line.
Cormier has also passed his teammates. Robert Whittaker (middleweight), Tyron Woodley (welterweight), Max Holloway (featherweight), TJ Dillashaw (lean weight) and Henry Cejudo (flyweight) will finish in 2018 with one fight for the title.
Only Khabib Nurmagomedov, who trains with Cormier at the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA), has repeatedly participated in a championship fight in 2018, thanks to his UFC 223 laurel against Al Iaquinta last April. .
The double Olympian is expected to retire from combat sports when he turns 40, which means the fight against Lesnar will likely be his last. If this is the case, Cormier will leave UFC as the biggest heavyweight in the game, as well as the second lightest heavyweight.
Not too bad.
To learn more about the UFC 230, including live results, play-by-play updates, highlights, recaps, feedback, etc., visit our UFC online feed. news «Cormier vs. Lewis "by clicking on right here.
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