Daniel Cormier on why American wrestlers are skipping MMA careers

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.

Photo: Chris Hunkeler from Carlsbad, California, USA / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Original reporting:

• mmafighting.com — Daniel Cormier explains why fewer and fewer American wrestlers are transitioning to MMA these days | MMA Fighting