Picture Credit: Twitter
Former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame Class of 2022 this July in Las Vegas. The announcement was made during the broadcast of UFC 274 last night on Saturday (May 7) in Phoenix. UFC played a commemorative video dedicated to the illustrious career of Cormier. The former UFC champion was seen getting emotional after seeing his video tribute on the big screen and witnessing the moment which has etched his name in the UFC history forever.
With the honour, Cormier will take his place alongside greats that include Ronda Rousey, Georges St-Pierre, and Khabib Nurmagomedov. Cormier won his maiden light heavyweight championship in 2015 by submitting Anthony Johnson and then successfully defended the title on three separate occasions. Later, Cormier went down in the history books as he became champion in two divisions in UFC history. Cormier defeated top-quality fighters like Miocic, Anderson Silva, Frank Mir, Josh Barnett, and Derrick Lewis throughout his career.
Watch his video:
In an official press release, UFC President Dana White said Daniel Cormier is one of the most fierce competitors of all time. "He has faced the greatest athletes globally on various levels of wrestling and MMA. He has been the ultimate representative of sports. As an active fighter, he was always media friendly, which led him to become one of the best TV analysts in sports. He is one of the greatest ambassadors of UFC, and it's going to be an absolute honour to induct him into the UFC Hall of Fame this summer," stated White.
Prior to UFC, Cormier starred in Strikeforce, where he was the Heavyweight Grand Prix champion in 2012. He made his UFC debut in 2012, then won 11 of his first 13 fights, only faced defeat in 2015 against Jon Jones.
The 2022 UFC Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place on Thursday, June 30, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.