Kyle Terada-USA Today Sports
UFC on FOX 7 kicks off tomorrow night, which features a pivotal heavyweight bout between former Strikeforce champion Daniel Cormier and former UFC champ Frank Mir. Among all of the fighters to look for tomorrow, Daniel Cormier is one of the most important. The stakes have never been higher for Cormier, and he is fighting on the biggest stage in MMA.
Cormier, who trains out of the American Kickboxing Academy, is taking on a competent fighter in Mir, who is one of the best jiu jitsu players in the heavyweight division, so he will have to be cognizant of his every movement when on the ground. Cormier has shown steady improvements in his stand up game, and his wrestling is on another level. Some would even saw it’s the best in mixed martial arts right now.
Coming into this fight, Cormier is the former Strikeforce heavyweight champion after beating the likes of Antonio Silva and Josh Barnett. Although Cormier is relatively new to this sport, he has shown attributes that make a champion. If Cormier is able to defeat Mir this Saturday night, he cements his status as being one of the best in the world.
Currently, Cain Velasquez, a training partner of Cormier, is the heavyweight champion and is set to face Antonio Silva. The outcome of this bout will more than likely determine Cormier’s future as he has said on numerous occasions that he would never fight Velasquez. A Velasquez win would warrant a transition down to the light heavyweight division, where Jon Jones is currently the champion.
Jones has been virtually untested in his fighting career, but if there ever was a fighter to threaten him with power and wrestling, it’s Daniel Cormier. First things first, however, as he will have to get past the dynamic grappler in Mir.
Will Cormier emerge a breakout star tomorrow night in the UFC? Stay tuned!
