Daniel Cormier featured in some iconic fights during his time in the UFC.
The former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion may have been best known for his smothering grappling style but that didn’t stop ‘DC’ from having a few barnburners.
Cormier’s most iconic opponent may be Jon Jones but he had some other memorable battles with the likes of Alexander Gustafsson, Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson and Stipe Miocic.
Following his retirement, Cormier now plays a pivotal role in the UFC as one of the promotion’s most prominent commentators but before he had stepped inside the Octagon for the first time, ‘DC’ was a fan.
The UFC Hall of Famer recently named his favorite fight and it’s one that is sure to rank highly on a lot of lists.
Daniel Cormier names ‘Shogun’ Rua vs Dan Henderson at UFC 139 as his favorite fight of all time
In a recent appearance on the Pound 4 Pound podcast, Daniel Cormier was asked to name his favorite fight.
The answer came quickly to ‘DC’ as he reflected on being in attendance for one of the most iconic matchups in UFC history.
At UFC 139, two former PRIDE legends who had also achieved success inside the Octagon met for the first time.
Dan Henderson re-signed to the promotion to face Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua in the main event after Cain Velasquez’s heavyweight title defense against Junior dos Santos was moved to a different date.
The fight had absolutely everything with many still believing it to be the greatest fight in UFC history.
Henderson emerged victorious following five rounds of war with the incredible battle becoming the fourth fight to enter the UFC Hall of Fame’s Fight wing in 2018.
Cormier recalled how after watching the fight, he was left physically shaking during his car ride home.
“Favorite fight of all time? I watched Dan Henderson and ‘Shogun’ in San Jose. First time they ever did a five-round main event that wasn’t a title fight. Bro, them dudes went crazy in the shark tank. I drove 30 minutes. I remember driving home and I was just shaking. I was in Strikeforce I think and I was like oh my god.”
Daniel Cormier said that this fight made him hesitant to fight five rounds without a title on the line
After reflecting on his experience at UFC 139, Daniel Cormier spoke about another key point regarding the main event of UFC 139.
Though Dana White claimed that it would be a number one contender’s match in the light heavyweight division, there was no title on the line for Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua or Dan Henderson.
At the time, it wasn’t a regular occurrence to have non-title fights take place over five rounds like it is today.
Cormier said on the podcast that watching this fight made him realize that he didn’t want to put himself through the experience of fighting five rounds if there wasn’t a title up for grabs.
“They’re adding two rounds to main events and it could be like this? I thought on that day, I was like I never want to fight five rounds unless I’m fighting for a belt because that seemed like a championship effort without the reward at the end but, it was awesome.”