UFC 241: Daniel Cormier says ‘I didn’t do what I was trained to do’ against Stipe Miocic – ‘let my coaches down’
- Cormier’s coaches ‘beg’ him to wrestle in fourth round before resurgent Miocic secures TKO and regains UFC heavyweight title
- ‘I paid the ultimate price for not listening to my coaches, I feel pretty bad about that’
Daniel Cormier has admitted he “didn’t do what I was trained to do” after ignoring his coaches’ advice to use his wrestling against a surging Stipe Miocic in the championship rounds of their UFC 241 heavyweight title fight.
A former Olympic wrestler, “DC” used his elite wrestling skills to get Miocic to the ground in a dominant first round. But he chose to trade with his opponent from that point on – which is always a dangerous game against a man with Miocic’s power.
Cormier’s corner recognised the danger and implored him between the third and fourth rounds to take it back to the ground.
“That was the strategy, that’s probably the biggest let down – they were begging me to wrestle,” said a despondent Cormier, with his face heavily bruised, at the post event press conference. “That’s the most disappointing thing. I didn’t do what I was trained to do. And I feel like I let my coaches down.
“When you start finding success and landing things you fall in love with it. It feels like the [Alexander] Gustafsson fight all over again, when I wrestled a lot in first round, and in the last four rounds I didn’t.