Daniel Cormier faced some of the UFC’s most dangerous knockout artists during his career.
Despite this, Cormier only has one stoppage loss on his record after the result of his UFC 214 rematch with Jon Jones was overturned to a no contest.
‘DC’ was finished by Stipe Miocic in their second fight but by this time, he’d already come up against several of the sport’s most feared knockout artists.
One of those opponents was Derrick Lewis who will try to extend his record for the most knockouts in UFC history when he returns at UFC Nashville this Saturday.
‘The Black Beast’ may be the promotion’s most prolific KO artist but surprisingly, he isn’t the name that first comes to mind when Cormier looks back on the heaviest hitters that he met inside the Octagon.
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Daniel Cormier names Dan Henderson as the hardest hitter he faced inside the Octagon
On a recent episode of ESPN MMA’s ‘Good Guy / Bad Guy’, Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen spoke about Charles Oliveira’s recent comments regarding Ilia Topuria’s power.
‘DC’ went on to talk about the hardest hitters that he’s ever shared the cage with before naming the first one that comes to mind.
Fighters like Derrick Lewis and the late Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson may seem like obvious selections, however, Cormier did face another opponent who was known for putting people out in one shot.
“I think you and I could agree with one though, one guy that hit harder than just about everyone. Dan Henderson. Dan Henderson never got to hit me. He never really got to hit me outside of him being on his back and hitting me or in the clinch hitting me a couple of times. I could not believe how much impact he was making from such a short distance. I was like, ‘What is this dude made out of?'”
While Henderson may not be nearly as big as the likes of Lewis or Johnson, he still had the ability to shut the lights off in the blink of an eye.
With 18 pro wins by knockout, the infamous ‘H-Bomb’ devastated opponents like Michael Bisping, Wanderlei Silva and Fedor Emelianenko during Henderson’s remarkable career.
Sonnen, who used to train alongside him, supported Cormier’s claim by reflecting on the time that he was on the wrong end of Henderson’s power.
“He would argue that because he had the big glove on, it was okay. I’ve never been knocked out in a fight, I’ve never even been knocked down. Daniel, he hit me with that hand… I remember I couldn’t respond, like I was still trying to kind of figure out [what happened].”
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Daniel Cormier chooses between Derrick Lewis and Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson
Daniel Cormier also spoke about the incredible knockout power that Derrick Lewis and Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson both possessed.
He made reference to his UFC 230 matchup with Lewis where despite not being hit clean by Lewis, he felt like he’d been in the trenches with ‘The Black Beast’.
“‘Rumble’ Johnson hit very hard also. Derrick Lewis… He hit hard. I had his leg up, holding a single leg and he hammerfisted me and it kind of just rolled down my face. I had a black eye like I had been in a five-round war fighting Derrick Lewis. The way that this man hits. He kicked my arm, boom, knots everywhere. He’s just a powerhouse.”
Despite giving Johnson the speed advantage, Cormier said that Lewis hit harder than ‘Rumble’, comparing the shocking impact of his strikes to Dan Henderson.
“In terms of Derrick with the thudding, Derrick had that thing that ‘Hendo’ had. It was like that thudding power where they didn’t even really need to punch through the glove. When they made contact with the glove it was like boom and everything just kind of hurt getting hit by Derrick Lewis.”