Daniel Cormier Talks About Being in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix

[WrestlingSmarks News]

Undefeated Strikeforce heavyweight Daniel Cormier (8-0) has been inserted into the semi-finals of the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix, and he's obviously excited about it. It all came about when Alistair Overeem couldn't take the fight on the proposed September 10th date. While there has been some debate about whether he was pulled from the GP or withdrew himself, there's no was no debate for Cormier when it came to taking the fight. He spoke to Maggie Hendricks of Cagewriter about that decision, and about his fight with Antonio Silva on September 10th. First, he says it was an easy decision:

"Obviously, I had no reservations. I'm a person who thinks things through, and when I weighed out the positives and negatives, there was no reason for me to not take the fight."

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Cormier understandably believes that this is a huge break for him:

"People are saying that the tournament means nothing because Overeem is out, it's the biggest thing in my life. When I first saw the tournament started, I thought it was the greatest collection of heavyweights in one bracket. I still get to fight some of the best heavyweights in the world, and if I string this together, I think it validates me as a mixed martial artist."

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And he thinks he definitely has some advantages in a matchup with Bigfoot:

"I'm faster than he is, I'm more athletic and a better wrestler, and I think I'm a pretty decent mixed martial artist. I've gotten better to the point that I think I'm ready to compete with the best guys in the world. I won't know how far I am in this journey until I do test myself with someone like that."

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The two will meet in Cincinnati on September 10th, with the winner advancing to the finals to face the winner of the Josh Barnett vs. Sergei Kharitonov fight on the same card.