Overview
- The former two-division champion outlined a recruitment drive to bring elite collegiate wrestlers into MMA.
- This week he is sending eight middle-school athletes from his Gilroy program to Moscow and Dagestan for three weeks of training and competition, including a dual meet at the Ivan Yarygin Sports Palace.
- Cormier says exposure to Dagestani coaching and methods will be built into development to match the region’s recent success.
- Coverage notes there are currently no American male UFC champions and that Caucasus-born fighters hold about 37% of titles, with Kayla Harrison the lone American champion overall.
- He contends top NCAA wrestlers now earn roughly $100,000–$400,000 a year, which has slowed transitions to MMA despite the U.S. wrestling pedigree that once produced champions like Jon Jones and Henry Cejudo.