UFC 230: Daniel Cormier is fighting at heavyweight, but he spars like a lighter man
Daniel Cormier throws a punch during open workouts for UFC 230 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. Credit: Newsday/Shelby Knowles
Once upon a time, Daniel Cormier had to cut weight during a UFC fight week.
The two-time U.S. Olympic wrestler began his MMA career at heavyweight in 2009, then dropped to light heavyweight at the end of 2013 when he became a UFC title contender and his longtime AKA teammate and friend Cain Velasquez sat atop the division.
For Cormier, the road down to 205 came with its bumps, bruises and towel grabs. But now that he’s champion of both the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions of the UFC and competing at heavyweight this weekend at Madison Square Garden, he brings some of those smaller-weight habits with him.
He spars during fight week. A lot.
“I can’t let go of the idea that I’m fighting at 205,” Cormier said Thursday during UFC 230 media day in Manhattan. “I used to have to do those things to make weight.”
Cormier recalled his UFC 220 fight week last January when he defended his light heavyweight title against Volkan Oezdemir.
“I was doing 10 rounds a day for three days leading up to the fight just to make weight,” Cormier said.
Cormier no longer needs to get down to 205 pounds. The heavyweight division allows for fighters to weigh anywhere from 206 to 265 pounds. Cormier weighed in around 246 when he fought Stipe Miocic to win the heavyweight title last summer.
Still, he kept sparring earlier this week as he prepares to face Derrick Lewis.
“It’s hard for me now to let go of that because it works,” Cormier said. “I don’t have to do it, but it works. I feel good when I get a couple days’ rest, and I feel prepared. I don’t let time pass to where my sharpness and everything starts to falter. I feel like on Saturday, I just go into another hard sparring day because I’ve been doing it all week.”
Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.
