Former two-time Olympian and UFC world champion Daniel Cormier congratulated Kyle Snyder and Sarah Hildebrandt for their Tokyo Olympics 2020 performances.

Kyle Snyder won Silver in the men’s 97 kg freestyle wrestling after losing to the Russian Tank Abdulrashid Sadulaev. Sarah Hildebrandt won the Bronze medal in the women’s 50kg freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics.

Daniel Cormier congratulates wrestlers

Daniel Cormier started off his professional career in wrestling and was a two-time Olympian before getting into the UFC. He retired last August and now coaches wrestling and MMA at the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA).

Cormier is a high-level wrestler and has shown his support for Team USA wrestling ever since they announced the team. He is a big fan of Olympic wrestling and follows US wrestling closely.

Daniel Cormier was so confident with the Team USA roster that he placed bets with his Russian teammates such as Khabib Nurmagomedov at AKA. He probably lost most of his bets as the Russians dominated most of the weight classes.

Tokyo Olympics 2020 

An interesting match was Kyle Snyder vs Sadulaev. They dubbed the match wrestling’s ‘Cold War’ Kyle Snyder and Sadulaev are wrestling royalty in their nations. The two have met in the ring twice before the Tokyo Olympics.

The previous matches are, ‘Snyderlaev I’ and ‘Snyderlaev II’. The Tokyo Olympics matchup is called ‘Captain America’ Vs ‘The Russian Tank’. This time, the Russian came out on top and won the gold.

Kyle Snyder had been training since 2018, with one aim, to dethrone the Russian Tank. Snyder looked too defensive and got two warnings for inactivity. Every attack that Snyder threw was futile, as Sadulaev proved to be too strong for Snyder.

Sadulaev overpowered and outscored his opponent to win 6-3 in the final. Kyle Snyder didn’t look like the world-class wrestler he is, Sadulaev made him look very mediocre.

“Unbelievable,” Sadulaev said post-match. “It was more difficult to defend than conquer, so it was much more difficult this time.”

Sarah Hildebrandt suffered a shock loss in the Semi-finals, losing to China’s Sun Yanan. After leading 7-0 early on, Sarah went on the defensive. With 12 seconds to go, she still led by two points.

In a last-minute attempt, her opponent advanced and secured a 4 point throw as the clock expired. Sun Yanan advanced to the finals. Hildebrandt won the Bronze medal match comfortably. The American won by technical superiority.

Also Read: Tokyo Olympics 2020 Gold Medalist Katie Ledecky Reveals Her Top-Secret Workout Routine