5 things you might not know about Daniel Cormier

#4 He wasn’t supposed to be in the StrikeForce Heavyweight Grand Prix – but he won it anyway

Cormier's first major win came over Antonio Silva in 2011

When Scott Coker announced the launch of a StrikeForce Heavyweight Grand Prix in early 2011, it sounded like a fight fan’s dream – the kind of tournament that PRIDE would’ve put on in its heyday, with the biggest names from outside the UFC all entering.

The eight-man tournament was supposed to consist of Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio Silva, Andrei Arlovski, Sergei Kharitonov, Josh Barnett, Brett Rogers, Fabricio Werdum, and then-StrikeForce Heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem. Those names alone had fans salivating – so much so that the “alternate” bout between Cormier and Jeff Monson went largely ignored.

As it turned out though, it was far more important than anyone could’ve imagined. Cormier comfortably outpointed Monson on the same show that saw Overeem defeat Werdum – but soon after, a contract dispute removed the Dutchman from the tournament and suddenly, Cormier was pegged to take his place.

Matched in the semi-finals against Silva – AKA ‘Bigfoot’, who had beaten Fedor and stood as the biggest man in the competition – few expected Cormier to come out on top, largely due to the massive size difference he was giving up. But ‘DC’ shocked everyone by knocking Silva out in the first round, truly arriving as an elite Heavyweight.

And although the final match against Josh Barnett took place eight months later – when most of the lustre of the Grand Prix was lost – Cormier still managed to win despite giving up a lot of size again. This time he basically threw Barnett around like a rag doll en route to a unanimous decision.

When the Grand Prix began, Overeem was the man StrikeForce’s backers were putting their promotional muscle behind – but when it ended they’d found a star from the most unlikely circumstances.