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Retired UFC Champion Daniel Cormier Talks Possibly Working for WWE as a Commentator, Suggests Idea for an Angle, More

Daniel Cormier

There have been rumors in the past about former UFC Champion Daniel Cormier working for WWE and now that he’s retired, the rumors are back. This time, Cormier is openly talking about joining WWE’s commentary team. Cormier retired from Mixed Martial Arts after losing to Stipe Miocic on August 15 and now the 41-year-old is focused on his commentary work for UFC.

During Cormier’s MMA career, he was a longtime UFC headliner that was a UFC Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight Champion and is considered one of the greatest fighters in UFC history. He was also the first fighter to successfully defend titles in two different weight classes, which is very impressive. Cormier talked to Sports Illustrated about possibly working for WWE while noting that he has been a big fan of professional wrestling all of his life.

Some of our past Cormier to WWE stories are from October 2018 when Cormier said he had an announcer tryout with WWE, from July 2018 when a Cormier fight against WWE’s Brock Lesnar was teased (but never happened) and March 2019 when Cormier teased showing up at WrestleMania to confront Lesnar, which also never happened.

Back in May 2020, WWE’s Triple H talked to TMZ about Cormier saying: “I love Daniel. We’ve obviously talked a lot in the past. We’ve had conversations about him doing stuff with us in the past whether that’s in-ring or whether that’s commentary or doing different things.”

Cormier on discussions with WWE:

“We’ve been talking. We’ve spoken to some of the people over there in very, very early conversations. WWE is a company I’ve watched and loved my entire life.”

The rumors in the past noted that WWE had an interest in putting Cormier on Smackdown on Fox, so it’s not known if that’s a deal that could still happen. Right now the Smackdown announce team is Michael Cole and Corey Graves, so they could add Cormier to the mix.

Cormier made it clear he has an appreciation for what WWE superstars do in the ring:

“Put me at the commentary table. Let me call the matches for six months and tell you how great these wrestlers are in the ring. I would love that, and I wouldn’t be faking it. WWE is something I’ve loved my entire life.”

Cormier went on to suggest an idea for an angle:

“Then, after those six months, what if I’m sitting next to Michael Cole, and Roman comes over and smacks the microphone out of my hand? But I’m an announcer. Will I hit him back? Then you’re asking if this will happen or not. That’s what I want, that slow build, the type of story you want to see, and your heart feels like it’s going to explode while you’re waiting for it. Give me the slow build, let it simmer.”

Cormier talked again about his respect for WWE’s product:

“I’m a fan of the product, I have a tremendous amount of respect for it. So that’s where I’m at, trying to figure out where my life is after competition.”

Regarding the above comment, the Sports Illustrated article specifically mentioned Smackdown, so perhaps that’s where Cormier would be if he joined WWE.

Cormier spoke about what it was like having his last UFC fight in August and knowing that it was the end of his career.

“I knew that [fight] was going to be it. I was forthright with the fans and with the company. I’d never cried as much as I cried at our team dinner before the fight, knowing it would be the last time leading and representing my team in that way.”

Cormier also talked to Sports Illustrated about meeting Jake Roberts recently, dealing with COVID-19 and more details about his final fight in the UFC. Would you want to see him in WWE? Let us know in the comment section.

TJR Thoughts: I think the deal is going to happen and it wouldn’t shock me if Cormier did some training to wrestle in WWE a few times in WWE as well. While he is 41 years old, it’s not that old and we know he’s a fan that is also a great talker, so he would be an awesome fit for some big matches in WWE. I think they’ll get him on Smackdown commentary before the end of the year and heading into WrestleMania next year. If Cormier didn’t have an interest, he would have been honest in saying it. Based on what he said, I think it’s going to happen.