Daniel Cormier knows about the International Fight Week curse all too well.
In 2016, Daniel Cormier was set for a light heavyweight title unification rematch against then-interim king Jon Jones. Three days before UFC 200, Jones was pulled from the card due to a USADA violation.
The year prior to that, the highly-anticipated featherweight title fight between Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo was supposed to be the crown jewel of International Fight Week. Aldo was forced to withdraw from the bout on short notice due to a rib injury.
Last year, a back injury saw Cody Garbrandt’s grudge match with TJ Dillashaw scrapped from UFC 213’s headliner. The replacement main event between Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko for the women’s bantamweight crown was scrapped just hours before the card kicked off. The champion cited ‘chronic sinusitis’ as her reason for pulling out.
Then, of course, we get to UFC 226. The featherweight title fight between Max Holloway and Brian Ortega was scrapped from the co-main event slot on Thursday. Holloway was forced to withdraw from the bout after being rushed to hospital with ‘concussion-like symptoms.’
Remarkably, at the pre-fight press conference on Thursday night, it looked like Murphy’s Law was going to rear its ugly head again in the superfight main event for the heavyweight title.
Shite! #UFC226 https://t.co/8hjygP4Qkx
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) July 5, 2018
Someone call an exorcist
The UFC 226 pre-fight press conference ran for about 25 minutes incident-free. After the last question had been asked, Cormier let Dana White know the show was over.
“I think we’re getting a wrap signal from the back.”
So the UFC president wrapped it up. He thanked everyone for coming and told them to stay put for the obligatory staredowns. Cormier was the first fighter to stand up, but in an instant, he was brought crashing back down to earth.
DC lost his footing making his way off stage and faceplanted hard. As he collided with the ground, his belt went flying across the stage. It took a few seconds, but White was among the UFC staff who helped him back to his feet. When he got back up, he held his back and appeared to limp towards the backstage area.
Fortunately, he was straight back out to give Stipe Miocic the thousand-yard stare. However, it was difficult to tell from his demeanour whether he was mean-mugging or in genuine pain.
Daniel Cormier takes a scary fall following UFC 226 Press Conference. pic.twitter.com/FUgtAHLQUm
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) July 6, 2018
Cormier confirmed he was fine and that the headliner was going ahead in an Instagram post. In his own words, “That speaker came out of nowhere.”
He hit the scales the very next day at 246 lbs for his first UFC heavyweight title shot. The champion weighed in slightly lighter at 242.5 lbs.
246 pounds for UFC light heavyweight champion @dc_mma 💪#UFC226 https://t.co/42b4aslLaF pic.twitter.com/Jcr1fQUhLg
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) July 6, 2018
