It wasn’t that long ago when Daniel Cormier suffered the toughest defeat of his career.
Technically, Daniel Cormier is on a five-fight win-streak following UFC 220. However, DC definitely doesn’t see it that way.
His knockout loss to Jon Jones was overturned to a No Contest after ‘Bones’ tested positive for steroids. What cannot be changed is how he felt after he regained consciousness that night. The tears he shed inside the Octagon will leave an indelible mark on his soul, but the only way to move on was to taste victory again.
Running to the TV like… #UFC220 pic.twitter.com/RaiBeKVpqG
— UFC (@ufc) January 21, 2018
In this regard, his defence against the heavy-handed Volkan Oezemir at UFC 220 was one of the most important of his career. He needed that fight, he needed to weather the early storm and he needed to prove that he is the best active 205 lber on planet Earth.
Volkan came out swinging and his takedown defence was superb in the opening minutes. Once Cormier got his hands going, it was game over. He rocked the Swiss fighter with a stiff two-punch combo, before catching a kick to secure the takedown. The bell saved the challenger from being submitted by a rear-naked choke after DC took his back.
Cormier secured a single leg takedown early in the second, swiftly got into full mount before working his ground-and-pound. When Oezdemir recovered to half-guard, Cormier transitioned to side control and trapped the left arm. With no viable defence, he kept pounding away until the referee was left with no choice but to end the fight.
DC was awarded the TKO victory at 2:00 of the second round.
That is classic Daniel Cormier 💪
The champ defends his belt at #UFC220 with a second-round finish of Volkan Oezdemir 🏆 pic.twitter.com/Yz5vmWGXhI
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) January 21, 2018
After making his triumphant return, Cormier slumped to his knees and buried his head in the canvas. When Rogan gave him the mic, he immediately addressed the elephant in the room.
“Joey, I’ve been through a lot. I go through a lot of stuff, man. It’s because of my greatest rival, but it feels good to get back in here and get a victory.”
“I’ve lost twice to Jon Jones and as I came into this fight I said I felt as though I was fighting for a vacant title again because he beat me last time. I fought for a vacant title and I got the job done, so I’m the UFC champion again.”
"Joe, I've been through a lot. I go through a lot of stuff, man, and it's because of my greatest rival."
"I'm the UFC champ again!" 👏
An emotional @dc_mma speaks to @joerogan about what it means to him to be the champ 🏆 #UFC220 pic.twitter.com/rA1hA6MVWl
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) January 21, 2018
Backstage, he echoed this sentiment to UFC reporter Megan Olivi. There was a huge sense of relief with this victory.
“Emotionally… relief. I can’t ignore what happened in July.I’m a competitor, Megan. You know that. You’ve been around this for a long time.”
“So even though I came in here as a champ, I knew I needed to get a victory in order to feel like that again.”
Remember when they used to boo Cormier? Think of how much the landscape of the sport has changed since then.
