Daniel Cormier open to banning one potentially dangerous move in MMA after brutal UFC Vegas 109 KO 

Daniel Cormier recently reflected on Toshiomi Kazama's vicious knockout loss against Elijah Smith at UFC Vegas 109 and shared his two cents on slams potentially being outlawed in the sport.

For context, Smith defeated Kazama via a violent slam knockout in the first round of their bout last weekend. The slam rendered the Japanese fighter unconscious, and he needed urgent medical attention before he could stand up.

In an episode of the Good Guy/ Bad Guy show, Cormier addressed the knockout sequence and wondered whether the sport would be better off outlawing the slam move. He said:

"There are very few rules that you have to follow [in MMA], right? One is that you can't hit him behind the head. You hit him behind the head, that's the biggest no-no. But if you slam him, what hits first, Chael? The back of the head. So there's a reason we don't get to punch behind the back of the head. So if I'm being honest, like, I don't know that I would be opposed to that being done away with, especially in that fashion."

He continued:

"So, while slamming the person right down on their head is legal, I would probably say I would not be too mad if they did away with that. Just the impact on the back of the head is crazy. In most cases, that becomes the story of the night." [H/t: MMA Junkie]

Watch the full episode below:

Fortunately, Kazama was later cleared by doctors, and his CT scans reportedly showed nothing to be concerned about.

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When Daniel Cormier slammed the 12-6 elbow rule change in MMA

Last August, Daniel Cormier sounded off on the 12-6 elbow ban being reversed. The former two-division UFC champion claimed that it set a dangerous precedent in the sport and could lead to other potentially life-threatening moves, such as soccer kicks or back-of-the-head strikes, being legalized.

In an episode of Funky and the Champ with Ben Askren, Cormier shared his two cents on the matter and said:

“I don’t like that. I don’t like 12-to-6 elbows, and I don’t like soccer kicks. Here’s my thought: when I was fighting Rumble Johnson, you couldn’t [move the elbows straight down]. But you could do it with an arch, so I was able to cut Rumble with an arching elbow, but it came straight down."

He continued:

“I just don’t want anything that makes fighting look like a street fight, that’s it...The moment we start opening those rules again, it’s gonna be more and more and more, and ultimately we’ll get back to soccer kicks.” [H/t: BJPenn]