Daniel Cormier heaps praise on former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez: “I still believe he was the best fighter”
UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier has some big time praise for his American Kickboxing Academy brethren Cain Velasquez.
Velasquez is a former two-time UFC heavyweight champion. He beat the likes of Junior dos Santos (twice), Brock Lesnar, and Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. Before Stipe Miocic emerged as the record holder for most successful UFC title defenses, many argued that Velasquez was the best UFC heavyweight of all time, maybe even in MMA period.
Daniel Cormier On Just How Good Cain Velasquez Was
During an interview with MMAFighting.com, Daniel Cormier said that whenever Cain Velasquez was 100 percent healthy, he was a nightmare for anyone.
“I tell you, nobody wanted those Cain Velasquez problems,” Cormier told MMA Fighting. “If that dude was healthy and ready to go, I still believe he was the best fighter. Ask me, ask Khabib [Nurmagomedov], ask the guys that saw him in the gym when he was healthy and he was good, nobody was like Cain.”
Cormier went on to mention Velasquez’s accomplishments despite being plagued by injuries.
“Think about his accolades, and he had to miss five or six years in the middle of his prime due to injury,” Cormier said. “Crazy.”
“DC” admits he thinks Velasquez at his best was even better than he was in his prime.
“He was the best,” Cormier said. “I’m telling you right now, he’s one of those guys that everyone calls the best — this dude was the best. He was better than me, for sure.”
Velasquez’s last pro MMA fight took place back in February 2019. He has since retired from pro MMA competition. Cormier wonders what would’ve happened if Velasquez and Jon Jones shared the Octagon.
“That’s one we missed,” Cormier said of Velasquez vs. Jones. “That would have been a good one.”
Topics:
Cain Velasquez Daniel Cormier
