Sherdog’s Top 10: MMA Wrestlers

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2. Daniel Cormier

American Kickboxing Academy’s Cormier owns both legitimate, world-class wrestling achievements and the MMA-adapted takedown game to qualify as one of the sport’s best wrestlers. Cormier lost only to eventual gold medalist Khadzimurat Gatsalov in 2004, snagging a fourth-place finish at the Summer Olympics in Athens. He was one of the favorites to win gold in 2008 following a world bronze in 2007, but a bad weight cut kept the team captain out of the Beijing Games entirely. Prior to his international freestyle career, Cormier was an NCAA All-American at Oklahoma State University and a two-time junior college national champion. Those are slick credentials, and his performance in the cage backs them up completely.

Cormier’s wrestling style is simple and highly effective. Even against world-class competition, he was almost impossible to take down and did his best work off his opponents’ failed shots. In MMA, that translates to a nearly impenetrable sprawl-and-brawl game, with a heavy dose of head control and brutal grinding in the clinch. When he wants to, however, Cormier can pull out an incredible high-amplitude throw or slam. His active, dynamic control on the ground hearkens back to a lifetime of mat work. In general, Cormier owns a comprehensive, efficient and effective wrestling game.

Now the team captain at AKA, with a strong squad working under him, Cormier looks poised to raise the level of wrestling in MMA, not only through his own participation but also through his coaching.

Finish Reading: Number 1 » While he lacks the elite wrestling credentials of most of the entries here, his brief career on the mats showed he could have been much more accomplished had life not intervened. He was a junior college national champion and did well on the national Greco-Roman scene in high school, which tends to bode well for future high-level competitors, but his career ended before he could go any further.