Daniel Cormier is a well-known former professional wrestler, martial artist, and MMA fighter. Daniel Cormier is a six-time USA Senior National Champion and an Olympic semi-finalist.
After joining the UFC, the mixed martial artist rose to prominence. He also holds the record for simultaneously capturing two UFC belts in different weight divisions and successfully defending both.
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Early Life, Family, and Education
Daniel Cormier was born to Joseph and Audrey Cormier on March 20, 1979.
He was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, US. Cormier’s zodiac sign is Pisces.
Moreover, he had a big family of six, including himself.
Daniel has three siblings, specifically Joseph, Felicia, and Feral.
However, he had a hard time growing up, as his father was shot dead; at that time, Daniel was only 7 years old.
Nonetheless, he attended Northside High School before enrolling at Colby Community College for advanced study.
He later transferred to Oklahoma State University and graduated with a degree in sociology.
Age, Height, and Weight
Daniel Cormier is 41 years old as of now. He stands 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) tall and weighs 240 lbs(approx).
Facts of Daniel Cormier
| Full Name | Daniel Ryan Cormier |
| Birth Date | March 20, 1979 |
| Age | 43 years old |
| Place of Birth | Lafayette, Louisiana, US |
| Nickname | DC |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | Black |
| Education | Oklahoma State University, Stillwater |
| Profession | Wrestler, MMA Fighter |
| Father’s Name | Joseph Cormier |
| Mother’s Name | Audrey Cormier |
| Siblings | Joseph Cormier, Felicia Cormier, Feral Cormier |
| Wife | Salina Deleon |
| Children | Daniel Cormier II, Marquita Kalani Cormier |
| Height(in cm) | 181 cm |
| Weight | 240 lb (approx.) |
| Horoscope | Pisces |
| Eye color | Black |
| Hair color | Black |
| Social Media | Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. |
| Retirement | 2020 |
| Net Worth | $6million (approx.) |
| Merch | UFC Fight Club, Poster |
| Last Update | April 2022 |
Salary and Net Worth
Daniel Cormier’s net worth is estimated to be approximately $6 million.
The American wrestler had a long and successful career that spanned two decades.
Despite his long career, the majority of his income came after his UFC victory.
This wealth is estimated, excluding bonuses that have not been declared.
His other source of money comes from his work as an ESPN analyst and pundit.
He may also have endorsement deals with Rebook, Monster Energy, and cbdMD, according to reports.
Olympic, Wrestling Career, Martial Arts, UFC, and Retirement
Wrestling Career
The MMA fighter career started early on from his high school days.
During his tenure in high school, he managed to earn 3 Louisiana State Championship titles in wrestling.
He had an exceptional record in high school, winning more than 100 matches and losing only 9.
Well, this might come as a surprise for a lot of fans, but little did you know that the former Olympian was also an all-state football player.
He played in the line breaker position. Also, he was denied the option to play football to follow his passion for wrestling.
Nevertheless, Cormier won the junior college national championship twice during his tenure at Colby Community College.
He then proceeded to Oklahoma State University, where he was an NCAA Division I freestyle wrestler.
It was the year 2000 that he initially entered the national competition as a third seed at 184 pounds.
However, he just missed the mark by one match of turning into an All-American.
In 2001, the wrestler in 184 pounds weight class reached the finals and eventually turned into an all-American, though he lost the finals by 8-4 to Cael Sanderson.
With 27 falls, his last record was 53-10, where 6 of his misfortunes were against Cael Sanderson.
The veteran’s phenomenal performance continued at the highest level.
e won the senior US national championship consecutively from 2003 until 2008.
That led him to represent the USA at the world level for every one of those years.
Olympics
Furthermore, at the 2004 Olympics, he represented Team USA.
Despite good performances throughout the Olympics, his gold medal hunt concluded in the semifinals as he faced defeat against Khadzhimurat Gatsalov.
He was also named captain of the USA wrestling team in the 2008 Olympics but was later pulled out of the competition due to kidney failure.
Meanwhile, Cormier won a bronze medal in the 2007 Wrestling World Championships.
He continued on the same path to winning a gold medal at the Golden Grand-Prix Ivan Yarygin held in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
The same wrestling tournament is considered one of the extremely challenging matches in the world.
Mixed Martial Arts and UFC Career
After the exclusion from the 2008 Olympics, the former olympian started to train alongside Cain Velasquez, Jon Fitch, and Josh Koscheck at American Kickboxing Academy to pursue a career in mixed martial arts.
In the wake of his professional appearance, Cormier made a trip to Australia and battled for Xtreme MMA; he crushed Lucas Browne to win the Xtreme MMA Heavyweight Championship on July 31, 2010.
A couple of weeks later, Cormier won his second MMA title by winning the KOTC Heavyweight Championship from Tony Johnson.
Moreover, he was also featured in Strikeforce Challengers. He had an eight-fight agreement with Strikeforce Organization.
Before moving down to UFC’s light heavyweight division, he had won two out of two fights.
In 2015, then light heavyweight champion Jon Jones was deprived of the light heavyweight title and suspended uncertainly in the wake of dealing with lawful offense indictments.
This created Daniel’s chance to replace Jon Jones to fight against Anthony Johnson at UFC 187 for the void title on May 23, 2015.
In the initial seconds of the battle, Cormier was dropped by an overhand right by Johnson.
Subsequently, in the next two rounds, the former MMA fighter triumphed.
The win in the last two rounds was enough for Cormier to become the new UFC light heavyweight champion.
This also earned him, a Performance of the Night bonus.
Heavyweight Champion
Additionally, in 2015, it was announced that the light heavyweight champion had signed a new eight-fight deal with UFC.
However, a rematch with the former light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones, was to take place in April of 2016 but had to be called off due to Cormier’s foot injury.
Later, the fight was rescheduled for July 9, 2016, which was also canceled due to possible doping violations by Jon Jones.
Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier
Though a rematch with Anthony Johnson took place on April 8, 2017, at UFC 210, Cormier could retain his title with a win.
The long-awaited rematch with Jon Jones finally occurred on July 29, 2017, at UFC 214.
Jones defeated Cormier to reclaim the title.
Afterward, it was found that Jon had violated the doping law and tested positive for anabolic steroids.
Thus, the title was returned to Cormier.
On July 7, 2018, the long human-made history became the 2nd fighter to hold two titles concurrently in the UFC.
In the process of doing so, he defeated Stipe Miocic for UFC heavyweight championship.
Following his title win, he later made his first heavyweight title defense and crushed Derrick Lewis to defend the heavyweight championship successfully.
This fight made him the first UFC fighter to win and defend both the light heavyweight and heavyweight titles and the first UFC fighter to defend both championships.
Later, on August 17, 2019, the heavyweight champion lost in a rematch with Stipe Miocic and ended his heavyweight championship reign.
Thus, a year later, on August 15, 2020, the UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion decided to hang up his gloves.
Injury
As a professional boxer, you can’t expect every day to be sunny; hence, you’ll have to deal with rain in the middle.
As a result, you will undoubtedly be injured as you fight, but the extent of your injuries will be unknown.
Similarly, Cormier has been plagued by ailments that have kept him out of the games.
For example, before the main event of UFC 197, he injured his leg and it swelled up.
He didn’t appear to have any lateral movement. In the same way, his most recent injury was an eye injury in 2020.
Injury to the Eye in 2020
Cormier had a damaged cornea in his UFC 252 battle with Stipe Miocic in August 2020.
They were part of one of the greatest trilogies of all time as they competed for the Heavyweight Championship.
Cormier had a 2-1 lead at the time of the match, but he finally lost the match and suffered a horrible eye injury as a result.
It was Miocic’s inadvertent poke that caused the cornea to tear.
Retirement
Daniel announced his retirement in August 2020, three weeks after his second loss to Stipe Miocic at UFC 252.
Cormier admitted that he should have retired sooner before his fight with Stipe Miocic, as he put it.
However, he stated again that it was alright, implying that he should now exit the stadium.
He had also stated that his age requires him to withdraw at this time.
Having said that, Cormier will have plenty to do once he retires, since many people are teaming up with him for business.
Wife, Children, and Relationships
Before marrying his long-time sweetheart, Salina Deleon, Daniel Cormier was said to have had one previous romance.
The couple first began dating in 2010. In 2017, the couple married after a long courtship.
Daniel, like the majority of high-profile celebrities, keeps his personal life very quiet.
However, it is well known that Salina has been Cormier’s support system since 2010 when the MMA fighter was having difficulty finding fights and was struggling financially.
Together, they have a son and a daughter.
Daniel II, Cormier’s son, was born in 2011, and Marquita Kalani Cormier, his daughter, was born in March 2012.
Cormier had a daughter named Kaedyn Cormier with his prior partner, who unfortunately died in a vehicle accident in 2003.
Awards and Achievements
- UFC Heavyweight Champion in 2018
- UFC Light Heavyweight Champion in 2015
- Xtreme MMA Heavyweight Champion
- First UFC fighter to successfully defend both UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight titles
- 2007 World Wrestling Championship bronze medalist
- Pan American Games gold medalist (2002)
- 2007 Pan American Games bronze medalist
- In 2005, she won a silver medal at the Wrestling World Cup.
- Dave Schultz Memorial International Open gold medalist twice (2001, 2007)
- In 2002, he won a bronze medal at the Dave Schultz Memorial International Open.
- Six times Senior National Champion in the United States of America (20003-2008)
- In 2007, John Smith won the John Smith Freestyle Wrestler of the Year award.
- In 2018, the Most Outstanding Fighter of the Year was awarded.
- In 2018, the award for Analyst of the Year was given (World MMA Awards)
- 2018’s Best MMA Fighter (ESPY Award)
- Fighter of the Year on ESPN (2018)
- Champion of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix
- Heavyweight Champion of King of the Cage
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Social Media Presence and Film Debut
Daniel made his film debut in 2014 with the comedy Intervention.
He also appeared in a number of YouTube programs for a variety of networks.
New Orleans Saints’ ardent fans can be found on three social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
He also has 2.6 million Instagram followers, with whom he usually publishes photographs of his children, himself, and some UFC-related postings.
In addition, he has one million followers on Twitter.
His Facebook page has over 500,000 followers, and he often posts videos and photographs from his fights as well as other UFC content.
