Daniel Cormier says money is keeping American wrestlers out of the cage.
The UFC Hall of Famer and two-time Olympian told Ya’ll Street TV that coaching jobs and Regional Training Centers now pay enough to make fighting less attractive to elite wrestlers. “Most wrestlers think that $200,000 is a year to coach is a lot of money, especially when you’re living in those small towns like Stillwater and Happy Valley,” Cormier said, per MMA Fighting. “The American wrestler isn’t as open to fighting as we need him to be.”
Why the pipeline dried up for American wrestlers in MMA
Cormier pointed out that the UFC currently has no male American champions — though he forgot Sean Strickland holds the middleweight belt. Wrestlers once saw MMA as the only way to earn a living after college, but Regional Training Centers and coaching positions now offer steady six-figure salaries without the punches. Of the 16 American wrestlers who competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics, only silver medalist Kennedy Blades has expressed serious interest in fighting professionally.
Gable Steveson, the Olympic gold medalist and multi-time NCAA champion, makes his UFC debut in July. But Steveson represents an outlier rather than the start of a new trend.
Cormier built his Hall of Fame career after wrestling at the highest levels, and he believes the sport benefited enormously from the steady flow of American mat talent. That pipeline has slowed considerably as wrestlers find they can stay in the sport and still make a comfortable living.
Its very cool they can make money coaching, but I do feel we are missing out on some Hammer House type dudes these days.
$200k/yr over 30years without fight damage is way better than $50k/$50k fight/win for 5 years
200k is great money
DC out of touch? Probably
In his defense, thats his food budget for a month.
For his personal locked fridge.
HammerHouse type wrestlers would not do well in today’s mma. These days you have to be well rounded - you gotta know subs and know how to strike .. the days of wrestlers just taking guys down and it staying there are long gone
Wrestlers used to be able to come in mma and dominate just using their wtestling and strength but they can’t do that anymore.. Nickal has been almost completely unable to implement his wrestling in the cage - we will see how Gable does .. I think he will be more effective but mostly because hvwt is a very weak division
Bo literally took dude down in first 30 seconds of the 250 card…
took him down easily…
You two are the Cormier and Jones of the RAF thread and I love it lol
And did nothing with it
Pico took pitbull and Murphy down and they popped right back up
It’s a different game old man .. deal with it
Bo knocked dude out…
Only an pure noob would think that early TD achieved so early and with ease had no effect on the fight going forward…
Getting punched is way different than hugging.
Not all wrestlers want to deal with a career where they are punched in the face for a living, either. Rulon Gardner tried MMA and decided it wasn’t for him because of that.
Biggest issue is pay, as DC mentioned. UFC isn’t going to be offering six-figure guarantees just because someone is All-American or even an Olympian. They don’t care unless you have an Olympic gold medal.
Trajectory for lots of MMA fighters is being poverty-adjacent for literally years and hoping for a big money contract that often never comes.
If someone gets an offer to coach that comes with health benefits for their family, that’s a no-brainer.