It’s become more and more common for Olympic level athletes to make their way into the world of mixed martial arts. Even more have found themselves in the sports’ biggest promotion, the Ultimate Fighting Championship. From UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey to UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman, there’s a long list of Olympians who’ve fought in The Octagon.
The UFC is reportedly on the cusp of matching up another pair of Olympic athletes to meet at UFC 175. Light-heavyweights Daniel Cormier and Dan Henderson have been in talks with the promotion to meet up at the July 5th event. If this bout happens as planned, Cormier and Henderson will likely be the co-main event of the card headlined by UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman defending his title against Lyoto Machida.
It’ll be a fitting matchup on the UFC’s standard 4th of July weekend card as the two were Olympic wrestlers for America. Cormier was a member of the 2004 and 2008 freestyle wrestling teams, Henderson was a member of the 1992 and 1996 Greco-Roman wrestling team.
Cormier (14-0, 6 KO/TKO) made his light-heavyweight debut in February and impressed as he overpowered a lesser opponent. DC, who trains out of AKA in San Jose alongside UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez and middleweight contender Luke Rockhold, has long been considered a title contender and the move down to 205 pounds would have made the road much easier. With the possibility of fighting a legend like Hendo in his way, Cormier is knocking on the door of title contention.
For Hendo (30-11, 14 KO/TKO), this is another shot to prove that he is still able to step inside The Octagon and give it his all. He’s coming off one of the most impressive KO victories of his career over Shogun Rua. Although he is 1-3 in his last 4 bouts, Henderson was once the #1 contender for the light-heavyweight title. A knee injury put that on hold, but Hendo is adamant that he should be next in line for a shot.
This could be the victory that sends either man to the top of the list of title contenders. But, first this “rumor” needs to become reality and the UFC needs to pair up one of its legends with one of its fastest rising stars.
From the Olympics to the doorstep of UFC gold, which of these fighters will be next to wear the strap?
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