Daniel Cormier, a relatively short Heavyweight, has met success against bigger opponents in freestyle wrestling and later in Mixed Martial Arts. Born in Lafayette, Louisiana, Cormier was raised by his mother and stepfather. He became a pro wrestling fan by age 10, which he watched on TV often. When he was 11, a coach introduced him to wrestling after breaking up a parking lot fight with him and a friend.
Cormier attended Louisiana High School, where he won his first medals, thrice winning a Division I All-American and State championships. He also played the linebacker position in football and was offered a scholarship to play at Louisiana State University. He chose wrestling instead and in 1997, he went to Colby Junior College in Kansas, where he attended for two years, then transferred to Oklahoma State University (OSU).
It was at OSU that he became a roommate and friend of King Mo. In 2001, he was a runner-up in the NCAA Division I Collegiate Championship and NCAA Big 12 Conference. Cormier won a gold medal at the 2002 Pan American Games and another in 2003 during the Pan American Games. In 2007, he won bronze medals at the FILA Wrestling World Championships and the FILA Wrestling World Championships.
While preparing to audition for the Olympics team, Cormier's 3 1/2-month-old daughter, Kaedyn Imri Cormier, died in a car accident on June 14, 2003, in Austin, Texas. The car she was in was hit by an 18-wheeler truck. Severely afflicted by the loss, Cormier stopped wrestling. After some time off, he made the 2004 US Olympics team in Athens, where he finished 4th. Cormier declined an offer from World Wrestling Entertainment and tried for the Olympics again. Due to a kidney failure he sustained from cutting weight to 211.5 pounds, Cormier withdrew from the US Olympic wrestling team in 2008, a day before he was to compete in the Beijing Olympics. Cormier could not train for a year, which ended his wrestling career.
In 2009, Cormier started to train in Mixed Martial Arts out of San Jose's American Kickboxing Academy (AKA),training with King Mo, Cain Velasquez, and Luke Rockhold. Injuring his ribs a week before, Cormier fought fellow OSU alumni, Gary Frazier, in his first bout at Strikeforce Challengers 3 (2009). Cormier kept the fight standing by defending a takedown, landing a knee, and taking control of Frazier's back and dominating him on the ground for a portion of the round. After exchanging punches in the second round, Cormier failed to get the takedown after numerous attempts when Frazier held the fence.
Cormier got his first knockout at Strikeforce Challengers 7 (2010),defeating John Devine in the first round. Cormier remained active outside of Strikeforce (2006) in July 2010, initiating the busiest weeks of his MMA career by taking a fight against Lucas Browne in the Australian promotion Xtreme MMA, replacing an injured teammate Mike Kyle with two days' notice. In a bout for the XMMA Heavyweight Championship, Cormier took Brown to the ground early and won with devastating striking in four and a half minutes, resulting in Browne receiving up to one hundred stitches.
Cormier returned to the United States two weeks later to challenge Tony Johnson Jr. for the King of the Cage Heavyweight Championship, instead of competing at Strikeforce Challengers 10 (2010) as planned. Johnson attacked with punches, which put Cormier on the defensive. To stop Johnson's offense, Cormier clinched with him and held him against the cage. Johnson got a double-leg takedown and was reversed with Cormier on top. Cormier controlled Johnson on the ground, controlling his back and going for his neck. Johnson struggled to get Cormier off his back until the rear-naked choke was completely secured for the submission win.
It was Cormier's second championship win in two weeks. Eight days after winning the King of the Cage title, Cormier fought Jason Riley at Strikeforce: Houston (2010). Riley defended a single-leg take-down by Cormier then clinched with him against the fence. Cormier went for another take-down which Riley evaded. A right hand from Cormier stunned Riley, and he was easily taken to the ground via double-leg. Further strikes forced Riley to submit by tapping the mat with his right hand. Cormier won the bout in just over a minute, making it his quickest fight.
Cormier returned to Sydney, Australia to defend the Xtreme MMA Heavyweight Championship against Soa Palelei at XMMA 3 in November 2010. It was a successful title defense for Cormier, who submitted Palelei by way of punches. Cormier took on Devin Cole at Strikeforce Challengers 13 (2011).
