When Daniel Cormier speaks about life, it’s worth listening.
UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier is one of the most inspirational figures in all of sport. The man has been beaten to a bloody pulp by life, but has always managed to stand back up and succeed.
When he fell agonisingly short of an Olympic medal in 2004, he went straight back to grinding in the gym and was named Team USA captain for the next games. Unfortunately, another curveball was coming his way fast. Kidney failure resulting from excessive weight-cutting meant his dream of winning an Olympic medal was over.
After that crushing disappointment, he switched to MMA. As a green professional, he beat legends like Josh Barnett, Bigfoot Silva and Jeff Monson en route to winning the Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix. Six years after debuting in the sport, he had a UFC belt wrapped around his waist. Six months after weeping in the cage following that seismic head kick knockout from bitter rival Jon Jones, he was finishing Volkan Oezdemir to defend the strap.
He lost a daughter in a car accident and his father was murdered #UFC214 https://t.co/tAoetL9ExB
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) July 27, 2017
It would be unfair to say that DC has been put through the wringer in his personal life. No words can describe the anguish he has suffered outside of his athletic career. He lost his three-month-old daughter Kaedyn in a car accident in 2003, his biological father was murdered and a very close friend of his died in a plane crash.
His daughter’s passing should have shut him down. He admitted it very nearly did, but in the end, he refused to let that happen. In his own words, he honours Kaedyn through everything he does going forward. This type of strength is one that often goes unrecognised, but that doesn’t make it any less admirable.
Cormier has experienced both the nadir and the zenith of the human condition. So when he drops pearls of wisdom, it’s advisable to open one’s ears. On Sunday morning, he dropped some knowledge for Conor McGregor.
Sounds promising #UFC223 https://t.co/RYD66pM2xE
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) April 9, 2018
Life lesson
Cormier was one of the guests on a Metro PCS Facebook Live for UFC 223 hosted by former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin. He was joined by UFC middleweight king Robert Whittaker, P4P and flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson as well as welterweight champ Tyron Woodley.
Unsurprisingly, the discussion turned towards the bus attack event at the Barclays Center involving Conor McGregor. After DJ relayed some quotes from Dana White, Cormier dropped some truth bombs.
“You can’t take those actions. When you’re with your guys and you’re talking like, ‘dude, we’ve got to get him back,’ that’s normally the wrong thing. When you’re normally with your guys and you come up with a plan, go with the exact opposite. They had 13 hours to change their minds and they didn’t. At some point somebody should have been like, ‘dude, you’ve got to reconsider this.'”
It’s a simple, but important lesson. Take time to assess the situation and weigh up the potential costs of taking action. No one emerged as a winner from what happened at the Barclays Center on Media Day.
Had McGregor stopped to think, he may have concluded that throwing that dolly through the bus window wasn’t going to end well for anyone.
