Would Cormier have medalled in the 2008 Olympics?

surgeyou1

surgeyou1

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I know he had to withdraw due to the kidney issues but was he one of the favorites to win a medal going into it? He got 4th in 2004.
 
Very likely. Gold? Not necessarily, but almost certainly top 3.

His amateur accomplishments are very impressive beyond the Olympics. For example, two first place finishes in the extremely prestigious Dave Schultz Memorial International tournament, and in the 2007 tournament which Cormier won, it was not at his actual weight class but rather against HEAVYWEIGHTS (including Steve Mocco, who he edged in the finals).

Also, the UFC marketing machine failed to point out the fact that Daniel Cormier absolutely dominated Pat Cummins (who was at one point ranked as high as #3 in the nation) 7-0 in the quarterfinals of the DS Memorial. Again, at heavyweight.

Cormier would also most likely have an NCAA national championship amongst his list of accolades had he not run into a wall named Cael Sanderson (159-0 in the NCAA), one of only four wrestlers to ever win an NCAA championship in four consecutive years. Cormier is also one of only a handful of Americans to place first in the Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix in Siberia, which would be the toughest wrestling tournament on Earth outside the Olympics or FILA World Championships.
 
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He was one thought of as one of the best medal hopes going into the games. Mo Lawal was actually thought of as having maybe the best chance of any American to medal before the games, but he was upset in the trials and didn't even make it to Beijing.
 
What weight was he cutting to?
 
WK-w1UQD1Ls.jpg


DC' kryptonite. They wrestled 3x and DC lost all 3 times. But in an interview, he said how those defeats made him better.
 
Zlatan1 said:
WK-w1UQD1Ls.jpg


DC' kryptonite. They wrestled 3x and DC lost all 3 times. But in an interview, he said how those defeats made him better.
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Gatsalov is a monster, one of history's greatest, but he didn't compete in Beijing so I don't see your point...?
 
I remember when someone on here made up a rumour about Gastalov coming to MMA stating that he was already a BJJ blackbelt and was ready to make a run in the UFC. This was a couple of years ago. Strange thing to make up.
 
JayElectra said:
I remember when someone on here made up a rumour about Gastalov coming to MMA stating that he was already a BJJ blackbelt and was ready to make a run in the UFC. This was a couple of years ago. Strange thing to make up.
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lol, if there was anyone like that it'd be Rustam Chsiev, who is not nearly as accomplished a wrestler as Gatsalov but IS a bjj-savvy Russian monster (he doesn't really submit people but he's hard to submit and gave Andre Galvao a really tough match).

NOBODY takes him down in bjj, and he's just really fucking strong and athletic, a real physical beast. He focuses more on competitive bjj than mma though it would seem.

[YT]59MPyUS5TAI[/YT]
 
Endziel said:
Cormier vs prime Karelin?
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Different weight classes and rulesets, would never happen unless Cormier wrestled him at HW.

If I had to pick though.. Karelin by ragdolling, his raw physicality was truly monstrous. But, at the same time, greco guys typically aren't very good at defending their legs. Who knows. Freestyle vs. Greco is just really hard to say since they're so different.
 
Steve08 said:
Very likely. Gold? Not necessarily, but almost certainly top 3.

His amateur accomplishments are very impressive beyond the Olympics. For example, two first place finishes in the extremely prestigious Dave Schultz Memorial International tournament, and in the 2007 tournament which Cormier won, it was not at his actual weight class but rather against HEAVYWEIGHTS (including Steve Mocco, who he edged in the finals).

Also, the UFC marketing machine failed to point out the fact that Daniel Cormier absolutely dominated Pat Cummins (who was at one point ranked as high as #3 in the nation) 7-0 in the quarterfinals of the DS Memorial. Again, at heavyweight.

Cormier would also most likely have an NCAA national championship amongst his list of accolades had he not run into a wall named Cael Sanderson (159-0 in the NCAA), one of only four wrestlers to ever win an NCAA championship in four consecutive years. Cormier is also one of only a handful of Americans to place first in the Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix in Siberia, which would be the toughest wrestling tournament on Earth outside the Olympics or FILA World Championships.
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omgz but Jonze will outwrestle him due to teh Greco Romanz




*Sarcasm*
 
Zlatan1 said:
Point is: Cormier would most likely win a medal at the 2008 Olympics, even if Gatsalov would have wrestled and the 2008 Olympics, BUT I doubt he would have won a gold medal.
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Fair enough, I just thought you were trying to imply that Cormier wouldn't have medaled because Gatsalov had wrestled there, which was an assumption on my part.

Yeah placing first is really tough. But even placing third still means you are one of the very best wrestlers in the world. He did place third at the FILA Worlds as it is so it's not as if he's leagues away from Olympic gold caliber, just maybe one of the best instead of THE best.
 
BROWNPRIDE4LIFE said:
omgz but Jonze will outwrestle him due to teh Greco Romanz




*Sarcasm*
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On credentials alone, Cormier would ragdoll Jones, but Jones is such an athletic specimen, in addition to his already prodigious wrestling skills, that he would very likely have placed top 8 at the NCAAs at least once; he very well might have won a national championship or gone even further than that, but who knows...

Regardless, age is not an inconsiderable factor here, IMO. Well, and striking, and wrestling style etc.
 
Steve08 said:
lol, if there was anyone like that it'd be Rustam Chsiev, who is not nearly as accomplished a wrestler as Gatsalov but IS a bjj-savvy Russian monster (he doesn't really submit people but he's hard to submit and gave Andre Galvao a really tough match).

NOBODY takes him down in bjj, and he's just really fucking strong and athletic, a real physical beast. He focuses more on competitive bjj than mma though it would seem.

[YT]59MPyUS5TAI[/YT]
Click to expand...

I've only seen him in that match against Galvao. Very physically imposing, although, he wasn't overly willing to engage with Galvao on the ground offensively (which is probably understandable). What kind of wrestling credentials does he have?
 
JayElectra said:
What kind of wrestling credentials does he have?
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I'm not certain, because it's hard to find any information about his wrestling career, at least with casual Googling. Suffice it to say, he's no Gatsalov, John Smith or Buvaisar Saitiev with more than 5 world-level championships to his credit.

But, I'm pretty sure he competed for the Russian team internationally (Dirty holt in the grappling forum said his teammates competed against Chsiev in tournaments that I can only presume were international), so not the best in the world but pretty damn good by any standard. He got badly outpointed by national champ Jon Reader at the 2013 DS Memorial (who would go on to place first), but there's no shame in that
 
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