""I went to AKA to train. I walked in as an Olympian and a heavyweight, and Cain Velasquez was the champion at the time," Cormier told the UFC. "He never saw me as a potential opponent down the line, and because of that, when it was time, when I worked myself up to No. 2 in the world, I said, I'm gonna go to 205 pounds because he set the standard for what a teammate should be.""
""He never saw me as a potential opponent down the line, and because of that, when it was time, when I worked myself up to No. 2 in the world, I said, I'm gonna go to 205 pounds because he set the standard for what a teammate should be. And so I felt like I needed to go down to avoid [fighting him]. I didn't want to fight him as a guy that was on the verge of a title fight.""
Daniel Cormier joined American Kickboxing Academy in 2009 where Cain Velasquez was the reigning heavyweight champion. Velasquez did not view Cormier as a future opponent, and Cormier chose to drop to light heavyweight to avoid facing his teammate. Cormier credited Velasquez with uplifting him and setting a standard of leadership that elevated teammates. Velasquez won the heavyweight title in 2010, reclaimed it in 2012, suffered injuries, returned in 2019, and retired after a loss to Francis Ngannou. Cormier won and defended titles at light heavyweight and heavyweight before retiring after a trilogy loss to Stipe Miocic in 2020.
Read at Sherdog
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