Daniel Cormier Gives an Insight Into Why Olympics Should Consider Having MMA

Khabib Nurmagomedov retired from MMA earlier this year. Entering his second phase of life, ‘The Eagle’ has ventured into multiple new areas of interest to him. The Dagestani fighter has started selling protein bars, cookies, and other products under the brand “Fitroo by Khabib.” 

At the heart of most of his new ventures, he has an aim to promote MMA. The Russian has already done a lot to help the growth in MMA, not only in Dagestan, but in a lot of parts around the world. In a recent press conference, Khabib mentioned that he would like MMA to become a sport at the Olympic games. 

Read: Why Tony Ferguson stood no chance against Khabib Nurmagomedov

Could we see MMA at the Olympic games?

On the recent episode of ‘DC’ and Helwani, Ariel Helwani asked Daniel Cormier if his friend’s dream of getting MMA into the Olympic games was viable and if so how would it work.

The former double champion replied, “You know Khabib and I actually talked about this the other day…. And I said you know man, you know how you do it right?…. The Olympics is 18 days, that’s the extent of the competition…. What you do is, at the very beginning you do the opening ceremony, people come ready to compete.

“You do eight-person brackets, where you got three fights. You fight like PFL and the Ultimate Fighter, you take away the elbows, you take away all those things that can really damage someone.”

 Cormier continued, “You can wear headgear…. Instead of the four-ounce gloves, there’s these eight-ounce gloves that have a little bit more of a padding in front you use those. Take away elbows you fight at the beginning of the games, you make weight, person that wins and goes to the semis. Five-six days later they make weight again plus two kilos so you get four pounds, so you fight.

“People who get to the final give them one more kilo. So you’re six pounds overweight for the games and you fight at the end for the gold medal.” 

MMA has never been part of the Olympic games. Whereas, sports such as Judo, boxing among others have been a part of the Olympic games for a while.

‘The Eagle’s’ ambition of getting MMA into the Olympic games will be an uphill battle and will take a while before it can actually happen. However, the introduction of MMA will be more than welcome by fans worldwide.