Daniel Cormier carved out quite a legacy for himself as a UFC light heavyweight champion, and a former opponent of his thinks he would still thrive within the current crop of 205-pounders if he were still competing today. That fighter in question was Josh Barnett who shared the cage with Cormier over twelve years ago.
This message from Barnett came as a result of retweeting a retweet, and the X wormhole began with @RedCorner_MMA. The footage was taken from a video the UFC put together, and the digital content creation team were playing around with a Tik Tok trend where people ask someone if they wish they were athletic for the purposes of irritating that individual for their own entertainment.
X users RedCorner_MMA shared the footage and posted,
“They asked DC if he ever wished he were athletic. “That’s so disrespectful. In my prime, I could pass some of my athletic ability to more people on the UFC roster.””
This was reteeted by X account @acdmma_ with that follow-up post stating,
“it’s insane that there’s new MMA fans that only know him from the commentary desk. There’s not one UFC light heavyweight on the UFC roster that beats prime DC”
Barnett then got in on the discourse on his own X account as he retweeted @acdmma_ and quipped,
“Agreed. At 205, DC walks the current division.”
Daniel Cormier, Josh Barnett, and the night they did battle
Daniel Cormier shared the cage with Josh Barnett many years ago, and it was a massive moment in the history of Strikeforce. The date was May 19th, 2012, with Cormier and Barnett both positioned in the finals of the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix. Both men ran through some of the best heavyweight mixed martial artists in the sport at the time and emerged from their respective sides of the bracket with only one able to stand tall in the end.
It was a hugely impressive performance for the Olympic wrestler, with Cormier advancing his overall pro MMA record to 10-0 with the statement win over Barnett. This was the biggest feather in DC’s cap that he had secured at that point in his fledgling MMA career. The former UFC heavyweight champion Barnett had already had well over thirty pro MMA fights before battling with Cormier on that night.
Cormier would become the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix champion and went on to fight once more under that promotional banner before then going over to the UFC and embarking on his highly celebrated path with the Ultimate Fighting Championship that saw him become a two-division champion, where he remains a prominent broadcaster/ analyst to this day.