Cormier: This is probably my last chance to be the best in the world
Daniel Cormier: “I’ve never been in the best in the world at anything. And this will probably be my last chance to do something and be the best in the world.”
Each year mixed martial arts produces a handful of stories that you must read in their entirety if you think of yourself as a hardcore fan. This one was written by Jeremy Botter; it’s titled The Olympian.
Botter chronicles the hard life of Daniel Cormier, from losing his father to murder, to losing his daughter in a car accident, to Olympic collapse, and more. Combat sports brought Cormier through, and up, and Saturday night, a lifetime comes together.
“The one thing that Jon and I have done is that we’ve made tough guys look like they’re not so good,” he says. “So when you get in there and you have two guys who have done that at every turn, it’ll be interesting to see who can get in their and impose their will on the other. It will be interesting to see who can make the other guy fight in the places they are uncomfortable.
“I’m going to have to push harder, in ways that I haven’t had to yet. Do I think I can go in and shut him out and win every round? Yeah. One hundred percent. If I fight to the best of my abilities, I think I can win and it doesn’t have to be close. It’s still going to be hard. But when it’s done, I don’t think I have to be standing there with my heart beating a hundred miles per minute.”
“I’ve never been in the best in the world at anything. And this will probably be my last chance to do something and be the best in the world. I’m 35 years old. I probably won’t get many more opportunities to prove that I can be the best at something. I feel like this is my last opportunity, and I’ve trained and worked my tail off to give myself that chance.”
“I can’t say with 100% certainty that I will beat Jon Jones. I believe I will win. But even after everything I’ve gone through, there are no guarantees in the fight business. And if I can’t beat him, I think that will be okay, because I will have given myself the best chance to win this fight. I cut no corners. I’ve taken no sick days.
“I’ve done everything you need to do in order to fight the best pound for pound fighter in the world. If it doesn’t happen, it won’t be for lack of effort.”
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Daniel Cormier fights UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones in the main event of UFC 182 on Saturday. Although Cormier is the slight underdog, he has never lost a round in mixed martial arts, and he had his first pro fight after just 30 days of training.