UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier is arguably one of the most decorated fighters on the UFC roster. In addition to reigning as the UFC light heavyweight champion, Cormier is an extremely accomplished wrestler, qualifying as a NCAA Division I All-American, and as an Olympic wrestler. Of course, Cormier also was the Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix champion in 2012 prior to signing with the UFC, defeating Josh Barnett in the finals of the tournament.
With that being said, UFC President Dana White cannot fathom why Cormier isn’t more popular among fans.
He spoke on The Herd this week:
“It’s the weirdest thing ever that he has not been embraced by the fans. He’s a great guy. He’s very well spoken and his fights are exciting. Cormier is an exciting fighter. It’s a weird thing.
“They like the bad boy, Jon Jones. Last time we had a press conference for those two, they were cheering Jon Jones and booing Cormier. It’s fascinating. I don’t get it. It is what it is.”
Cormier recently touched upon the same subject, explaining that he isn’t too concerned with how he is received by fans. Fox Sports has the quotes:
“If people are going to boo they’re going to boo. It doesn’t really matter to me. I know who I am, my friends know who I am and the people that matter know who I am. So if people boo me, they boo me,” Cormier said ahead of UFC 210 in Buffalo “I don’t know why they do it but they made decisions as to who they want to back and everybody is entitled to their own opinion and their right to cheer and root for whoever they want to root for.
“At the end of the day, when I win my fights and I keep the belt, I bring the belt home to the people that matter. The fans that support me, they share in those moments with me. The ones that don’t they boo me in the moment and then they go about their business and they can boo me next time they see me or they can mess around on my social media but that stuff doesn’t matter. The people that matter are the ones that support me and the people that are closest to me.”
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 4/5/2017.