In no particular order:
1-Antonio Nogueira circa 2001-2005
An elite bjj fighter with an iron chin, decent boxing and insane cardio? Well that sounds scary. People used to say Nogueira didn’t lose fights, he just ran out of time, and for a good reason.
Good luck at trying to GnP Nog’s iron chin and not getting subbed in the process. No doubt DC could take Nog down but he would pretty much be playing in a mousetrap the whole time. Some of his habits on the ground such as resting his extended arms on top of his opponents’ torso or leaving one arm in while in guard could easily get him subbed (more on that later).
Fedor was shaking off triangles and kimuras all the time while on Nogueira''s guard. Cormier simply doesn't have the awareness nor technique do do that.
DC’s best bet would probably be to sprawl and brawl (kinda like Fedor did in their 3rd fight), however Nogueira, while not heavy handed, had pretty decent boxing (outstruck guys like Kharitonov), while Cormier’s striking is pretty basic; he's flat footed and has a sloppy defense, albeit a hard hitter. Nog would be mixing both strikes and TD's which could led to more openings.
Cardio would no doubt be a key factor. DC doesn’t have great cardio (gassed in 2 rounds vs. Jones, gassed in a 3 round fight vs. Anderson Silva) while Nogueira had amazing cardio and could wear DC down.
Fedor trying to finish a Terminator:
2-Mirko Crocop circa 2003-2006
An elite striker with killer takedown defense? Sounds like a wrestler’s worst nightmare. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say Mirko would have been the worst possible match-up for DC in the history of the sport.
Forget about the head kicks (which DC loves eating). Cormier’s poor defense and ability to take body shots is about the worst weakness you can have against Crocop. It’s not like Cormier just got caught once or twice, he’s actually not good at defending body shots at all.
Seriously, when an old and out of prime Anderson Silva can make scream from pain with a left body kick, you should thank the universe you never had to fight a prime Mirko Crocop.
Somebody please tell Cormier how to defend body kicks:
I forgot the sport has evolved so much, fighters now don’t defend body kicks, they just take them like men.
Now DC has heavy hands and could catch Mirko ala Kevin Randleman, but honestly chances would be very slim. DC isn’t nearly as fast or explosive as Kevin was. He's slower and more flat footed, which makes him an easier target for strikes. Getting his head or liver kicked into oblivion seems a lot more likely.
3-Ubereem / Econoreem
Do I really need to explain anything here?
Reem has the TD defense and his striking is miles above DC's. Sure Overeem’s chin can always betray him, but DC getting kneed and body kicked to oblivion seems a lot more likely.
4-Fabricio Werdum
The man who subbed Fedor, Cain and KO’d Mark Hunt. Nuff said.
With that world class bjj, Werdum’s guard is pretty much the last place on earth Cormier should want to be. To make it worse, the dude is also a very capable striker:
Standing or on the ground, Cormier has no place to hide.
5- Fedor Emelianenko circa 2003-2006
We all know DC is a black prime Fedor
but with inferior striking, speed, reflexes, timing, elusiveness, agressivenes, pace, transitions, chin, cardio, sweeps, subs, sub defense,"heart", and the list goes on. Who the hell called DC black Fedor?
The stand-up isn't even close. Fedor fought and outstruck several elite strikers. Considering all of the above, DC having his way with Fedor in the stand-up is simply wishful thinking. He would most likely get overwhelmed, hurt and dropped.
Now DC could take Fedor down (or slam him on his head, doesn't matter). The problem is, DC tends to leave himself opened for subs when on top.
Leaving his arms like this for instance could get him armbarred quickly:
One arm in next to his opponent's head.
This was 2 seconds before Coleman got armbarred:
Cormier's arm doesn't even need to be that deep. This is Fedor's armbar starting position:
Now you might say DC has better sub defense than Coleman (does he?), but that's irrelevant. If he leaves his arms like that he gets armbarred just like him.
Standing or on the ground Fedor was simply just too much for DC to handle. He had a lot more weapons at his disposal. DC's best bet would be to LnP Fedor and avoid the subs/sweeps, but given his habits on the ground that's simply not likely.
Honorable mention: Stipe Miocic
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Bottom line:
There's no denying Daniel Comier proved himself to be a top heavyweight, defeating top fighters like Antonio Silva and Josh Barnett to win the Strikeforce Grand Prix. That being said, he never really fought the best HW's in the world at the time (Overeem, Werdum, Cain, JDS).
Some people even think Cormier was too good for the HW division, but I think the reason he has been doing so well is in fact that he’s NOT fighting at HW; not getting punched, kneed and body kicked by some of the guys mentioned above and others.
Hopefuly he'll move up again soon.
