Daniel Cormier, Henry Cejudo among wrestlers making huge impact in UFC
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by Craig Sesker USA Wrestling
Light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, a 2007 World bronze medalist in wrestling, took part in the UFC Go Big press conference on Friday in Las Vegas. Richard Immel photo.
LAS VEGAS – Six sparkling championship belts glistened in the bright lights of the MGM Grand Arena.
Two dozen of the world’s premier mixed martial artists, including standouts Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor, gathered for the Ultimate Fighting Championships Go Big press conference early Friday afternoon.
And there was no shortage of wrestling flavor.
UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, a two-time Olympian and 2007 World bronze medalist in freestyle wrestling, was front and center just a few feet away from Rousey and UFC CEO Dana White.
The UFC, which is sponsoring next week’s World Wrestling Championships at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, continues to make rapid gains in popularity worldwide.
And fighters with wrestling backgrounds are among those leading the charge.
2008 Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo and two-time Olympian Dan Henderson also were at MGM Grand Arena on Friday.
Cejudo is a rising star in the UFC and Henderson is one of the legends in the sport.
UFC champion Chris Weidman, an NCAA All-American wrestler for Hofstra, also has become one of the marquee names in the sport.
"I'm unbelievably proud to see so many wrestlers doing well in the UFC and in mixed martial arts," Cormier said. "Not only are these guys wrestlers at heart, they have taken a skill that they perfected for a lifetime and they are using it to make money and to provide for the families. They are living a life as wrestlers you don't think a lot of times that is possible.
"We are just blessed to come from such a great sport that prepares you to do just about anything. After wrestling, everything is easy. Even getting locked inside of a cage and fighting someone. After wrestling, everything is easy."
Cormier and Cejudo remain two of the biggest supporters for the sport of wrestling.
Cormier had hoped to attend the Wrestling Worlds in Vegas, and even do some broadcasting, but then his fight with Alexander Gustafsson was scheduled for Oct. 3.
Cormier, who also excels as a UFC television commentator for Fox Sports, is in the midst of training for his first title defense as UFC champion.
"I'm very blessed to be a part of this organization right now," Cormier said. "It's fun and it's been great, and it's been wild and crazy. I'm very grateful to be in the position I am in right now. It's an exciting time. It's been unbelievable.
"From 2008 to now, it's been crazy with all the changes. I'm so lucky and happy to be in this position."
A lean Cormier looks ready to fight right now.
"Training's been great," he said. "I've been working hard. The key is always going to be my wrestling. If I can impose my wrestling on the guy, I can beat anyone. If I can use my wrestling efficiently I will be OK."
Cormier won the vacated UFC title earlier this year with a win over Anthony Johnson after champion Jon Jones was stripped of his title. Cormier lost to Jones before defeating Johnson.
"My focus obviously is on Gustafsson, and it has to be," Cormier said. "I have to get by Gustafsson or my fight with Jones will never come to fruition. I have to get through the task at hand right now. I need (Jones) for my career to be complete. I need to get in there and compete against him at least one more time before I am done with this sport."
Cormier said he will try to follow the Wrestling World Championships, an event he competed in four times from 2003-07, as much as he can while training at home in California.
"I'm pumped for the Worlds," he said. "I'm excited. I will watch every single round that I can. The Worlds is a huge event every year, but the fact that it is back in America is unbelievable. I wrestled in the last World Championships that were in the U.S. in New York City in 2003.
"I think we have a great team and I think the guys will be ready to go. I have been watching the videos from World Team Camp and the guys seem excited and ready. I can't wait to watch it."
Cejudo said he will remain in Vegas to watch the Wrestling Worlds next week.
"To me, wrestling is still king," Cejudo said. "So many of these UFC stars have wrestling backgrounds. A good wrestler can defeat almost any kind of style in MMA."
Cejudo said he is looking for a big performance from the U.S. freestyle team at the Worlds next week.
"Absolutely, I will be cheering on our team," Cejudo said. "I love the USA. I bleed the red, white and blue. I wish them all the best. I'm excited to watch the World Championships. It's the best of the best, and it's in Las Vegas. You can't beat that. The best athletes in the World are wrestlers."
Past UFC champion Frankie Edgar and top UFC contender Chad Mendes are two other wrestlers with rich wrestling backgrounds who took part in the press conference Friday. Edgar and Mendes have a big upcoming UFC fight.
The press conference Friday was held prior to weigh-ins for Saturday night’s big UFC card at the same MGM Grand Arena.
UFC champion Demetrious Johnson, another fighter with a wrestling pedigree, will fight in the UFC 191 main event Saturday. Johnson will defend his flyweight title against John Dodson.
Cejudo is among the up-and-comers looking for a shot at Johnson in the 125-pound flyweight class. Cejudo is 8-0 in his MMA career and unbeaten since joining the UFC last year.
"Johnson is another guy with a big wrestling background," Cejudo said. "I need to focus on winning this fight, and then I can worry about who wins this fight (between Johnson and Dodson). I'm ready. If anybody knows my story, don't underestimate me."
Even the mega-popular Rousey, who is starting to make a name for herself as an actor in Hollywood, has a connection to wrestling.
Rousey landed her spot on the 2008 Olympic Team in judo when wrestling and judo held their Olympic Trials together that year in Las Vegas. Cejudo and Cormier also won the Olympic Trials that year in the same event at UNLV’s Thomas and Mack Center.
Rousey appeared in a press conference prior to the event with wrestlers and judo athletes at the 2008 Olympic Trials. Among Rousey’s UFC title defenses was a win over 2004 Olympic silver medalist wrestler Sara McMann.
White made a big announcement Friday that UFC 200 will be held in July 2016 at the new 20,000-seat Las Vegas Arena. No doubt there will be a few fighters with wrestling backgrounds competing.
Cejudo said he hasn’t ruled out a return to wrestling. His last big competition came when he competed at the 2012 Olympic Trials in Iowa City. He lost a hard-fought match to 2011 World fifth-place finisher Nick Simmons and then tossed his shoes into the crowd as fans stood and cheered.
The 2016 Olympic Trials will be back in Iowa City at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
"It's something that always crosses my mind," Cejudo said of possibly competing again. "I still wrestle like every other day. I still love it.
"I absolutely have the fire to be the best, whether it's wrestling or MMA. I have always competed to the best of my ability. That's what wrestlers do."
LAS VEGAS – Six sparkling championship belts glistened in the bright lights of the MGM Grand Arena.
Two dozen of the world’s premier mixed martial artists, including standouts Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor, gathered for the Ultimate Fighting Championships Go Big press conference early Friday afternoon.
And there was no shortage of wrestling flavor.
UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, a two-time Olympian and 2007 World bronze medalist in freestyle wrestling, was front and center just a few feet away from Rousey and UFC CEO Dana White.
The UFC, which is sponsoring next week’s World Wrestling Championships at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, continues to make rapid gains in popularity worldwide.
And fighters with wrestling backgrounds are among those leading the charge.
2008 Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo and two-time Olympian Dan Henderson also were at MGM Grand Arena on Friday.
Cejudo is a rising star in the UFC and Henderson is one of the legends in the sport.
UFC champion Chris Weidman, an NCAA All-American wrestler for Hofstra, also has become one of the marquee names in the sport.
"I'm unbelievably proud to see so many wrestlers doing well in the UFC and in mixed martial arts," Cormier said. "Not only are these guys wrestlers at heart, they have taken a skill that they perfected for a lifetime and they are using it to make money and to provide for the families. They are living a life as wrestlers you don't think a lot of times that is possible.
"We are just blessed to come from such a great sport that prepares you to do just about anything. After wrestling, everything is easy. Even getting locked inside of a cage and fighting someone. After wrestling, everything is easy."
Cormier and Cejudo remain two of the biggest supporters for the sport of wrestling.
Cormier had hoped to attend the Wrestling Worlds in Vegas, and even do some broadcasting, but then his fight with Alexander Gustafsson was scheduled for Oct. 3.
Cormier, who also excels as a UFC television commentator for Fox Sports, is in the midst of training for his first title defense as UFC champion.
"I'm very blessed to be a part of this organization right now," Cormier said. "It's fun and it's been great, and it's been wild and crazy. I'm very grateful to be in the position I am in right now. It's an exciting time. It's been unbelievable.
"From 2008 to now, it's been crazy with all the changes. I'm so lucky and happy to be in this position."
A lean Cormier looks ready to fight right now.
"Training's been great," he said. "I've been working hard. The key is always going to be my wrestling. If I can impose my wrestling on the guy, I can beat anyone. If I can use my wrestling efficiently I will be OK."
Cormier won the vacated UFC title earlier this year with a win over Anthony Johnson after champion Jon Jones was stripped of his title. Cormier lost to Jones before defeating Johnson.
"My focus obviously is on Gustafsson, and it has to be," Cormier said. "I have to get by Gustafsson or my fight with Jones will never come to fruition. I have to get through the task at hand right now. I need (Jones) for my career to be complete. I need to get in there and compete against him at least one more time before I am done with this sport."
Cormier said he will try to follow the Wrestling World Championships, an event he competed in four times from 2003-07, as much as he can while training at home in California.
"I'm pumped for the Worlds," he said. "I'm excited. I will watch every single round that I can. The Worlds is a huge event every year, but the fact that it is back in America is unbelievable. I wrestled in the last World Championships that were in the U.S. in New York City in 2003.
"I think we have a great team and I think the guys will be ready to go. I have been watching the videos from World Team Camp and the guys seem excited and ready. I can't wait to watch it."
Cejudo said he will remain in Vegas to watch the Wrestling Worlds next week.
"To me, wrestling is still king," Cejudo said. "So many of these UFC stars have wrestling backgrounds. A good wrestler can defeat almost any kind of style in MMA."
Cejudo said he is looking for a big performance from the U.S. freestyle team at the Worlds next week.
"Absolutely, I will be cheering on our team," Cejudo said. "I love the USA. I bleed the red, white and blue. I wish them all the best. I'm excited to watch the World Championships. It's the best of the best, and it's in Las Vegas. You can't beat that. The best athletes in the World are wrestlers."
Past UFC champion Frankie Edgar and top UFC contender Chad Mendes are two other wrestlers with rich wrestling backgrounds who took part in the press conference Friday. Edgar and Mendes have a big upcoming UFC fight.
The press conference Friday was held prior to weigh-ins for Saturday night’s big UFC card at the same MGM Grand Arena.
UFC champion Demetrious Johnson, another fighter with a wrestling pedigree, will fight in the UFC 191 main event Saturday. Johnson will defend his flyweight title against John Dodson.
Cejudo is among the up-and-comers looking for a shot at Johnson in the 125-pound flyweight class. Cejudo is 8-0 in his MMA career and unbeaten since joining the UFC last year.
"Johnson is another guy with a big wrestling background," Cejudo said. "I need to focus on winning this fight, and then I can worry about who wins this fight (between Johnson and Dodson). I'm ready. If anybody knows my story, don't underestimate me."
Even the mega-popular Rousey, who is starting to make a name for herself as an actor in Hollywood, has a connection to wrestling.
Rousey landed her spot on the 2008 Olympic Team in judo when wrestling and judo held their Olympic Trials together that year in Las Vegas. Cejudo and Cormier also won the Olympic Trials that year in the same event at UNLV’s Thomas and Mack Center.
Rousey appeared in a press conference prior to the event with wrestlers and judo athletes at the 2008 Olympic Trials. Among Rousey’s UFC title defenses was a win over 2004 Olympic silver medalist wrestler Sara McMann.
White made a big announcement Friday that UFC 200 will be held in July 2016 at the new 20,000-seat Las Vegas Arena. No doubt there will be a few fighters with wrestling backgrounds competing.
Cejudo said he hasn’t ruled out a return to wrestling. His last big competition came when he competed at the 2012 Olympic Trials in Iowa City. He lost a hard-fought match to 2011 World fifth-place finisher Nick Simmons and then tossed his shoes into the crowd as fans stood and cheered.
The 2016 Olympic Trials will be back in Iowa City at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
"It's something that always crosses my mind," Cejudo said of possibly competing again. "I still wrestle like every other day. I still love it.
"I absolutely have the fire to be the best, whether it's wrestling or MMA. I have always competed to the best of my ability. That's what wrestlers do."
