Daniel Cormier

WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and his "special counsel," Paul Heyman, called out former UFC champion and current color commentator Daniel Cormier on Twitter on Friday.

Cormier then fired back:

The back-and-forth started after Reigns spoke with ESPN's Ariel Helwani, who asked the champion whether he preferred one-on-one or Triple Threat matches (18-minute mark).

“I like one-on-one to be honest. I’ll smash anybody one-on-one, whether it’s Daniel Bryan one-on-one, Edge one-on-one, D.C. [Cormier]. I’ll smash ‘em all one-on-one, it don’t matter to me. Get him from behind the table, get him back in the gym, maybe, maybe he could have a chance, I don't know. It'd be a short story."

Reigns is facing Edge and Daniel Bryan in a Triple Threat match to headline WrestleMania 37 at Raymond James Stadium.

We'll see if a Reigns-Cormier WWE match happens sometime down the line, but for now, Reigns has his sights set on defending his belt April 11 against Daniel Bryan and Edge.

Count former UFC star Daniel Cormier as the latest person to rule themselves out as the mystery signing that All Elite Wrestling is set to announce Sunday for its Revolution pay-per-view.

Cormier said Friday that he won't be revealed as AEW's newest signing, as seen in this video courtesy of MMAFighting.com:

The 41-year-old noted that his back is "so jacked up" that he wouldn't be able to wrestle even if he wanted to give it a try.

A former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion, Cormier announced his retirement from MMA after a unanimous-decision loss to Stipe Miocic at UFC 252 last year.

The former Oklahoma State collegiate wrestling standout, who also competed for the United States, walked away as one of the most successful fighters in UFC history, posting a career MMA record of 22-3 with one no-contest.

Cormier is a longtime professional wrestling fan, and he said back in 2018 that he was scheduled for a tryout to be a WWE commentator, but he had to postpone it after accepting a fight against Derrick Lewis at UFC 230.

Perhaps Cormier is in no condition to wrestle currently, but taking on an announcing role in AEW may not be completely out of the question.

With that said, the Louisiana native seemed to make it abundantly clear that he won't be showing up at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida, for Revolution.

Former WWE Superstar CM Punk, who hasn't wrestled since 2014, is among those who have been rumored as well. Punk also ruled himself out as the mystery signing, tweeting: "100% not me."

A wide range of names has been brought up by wrestling fans on Twitter, with Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Christian, Brock Lesnar, John Cena and even The Rock being among them.

Nobody has been confirmed as of yet, but there is no question that AEW having Paul Wight say that a "Hall of Fame-worthy talent" is joining the company at Revolution has gotten people talking.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

Khabib Nurmagomedov may have shown a level of mercy toward Justin Gaethje as he wrapped up a second-round victory at UFC 254 on Saturday.

Durind Monday's episode of DC & Helwani, Daniel Cormier argued that Nurmagomedov transitioned from an armbar to a triangle in order to avoid leaving Gaethje with a serious injury.

"He told me when he was watching the interviews over the course of the week, he saw that Justin said that he would never tap," Cormier said. "He was going to do the armbar, but he had heard Justin saying all week that he would never tap, and he didn't want to hurt him in front of his parents. So he went to the triangle and just kind of put him to sleep."

It's not unheard of for a fighter to refuse to submit while being prone in a limb-based submission. Frank Mir famously broke Tim Sylvia's forearm in the first round of their 2004 fight. Sylvia hadn't even realized in the moment that his arm was broken and signaled his frustration with the stoppage.

Nurmagomedov is such a master of his craft that you can also buy the idea that his mind immediately jumped to putting Gaethje away in what he viewed to be a compassionate manner, with Gaethje's parents at the event in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The 32-year-old wasn't in much of a celebratory mood, either, pointing to how he had a lot on his mind beyond the opponent in front of him. This was his first fight since his father, Abdulmanap, died of COVID-19-related complications in July, and he was clearly overcome by the emotion of the moment.

Nurmagomedov immediately announced his retirement from MMA as well.

"I was almost brought to tears, sitting at the commentary desk, watching him sob in the middle of the Octagon," Cormier said.

He added that he doesn't expect Khabib to go back on his word and return to UFC competition.

Daniel Cormier might be the next UFC star to make the jump to WWE. Just don't immediately expect him to step inside the ring.

"We've been talking," Cormier said of discussions with WWE officials, per Sports Illustrated's Justin Barrasso. "We've spoken to some of the people over there in very, very early conversations. WWE is a company I've watched and loved my entire life."

The former heavyweight and light heavyweight champion added that he'd prefer to start in the commentary booth before pondering an in-ring role.

A number of MMA stars have exchanged the Octagon for the squared circle. Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn were two of the earliest examples, with Brock Lesnar, Ronda Rousey, Shayna Baszler and Cain Velasquez all following their paths. In Lesnar's case, he rose to prominence in wrestling before trying his hand in the UFC and returning to WWE.

The pipeline hasn't stopped flowing completely. However, WWE released Velasquez after he wrestled in two matches, while the company let Lesnar's contract expire in August. The moves came after WWE announced in April it was cutting back on some expenses amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

It's not hard to see why the promotion would make an exception for Cormier. He has made a seamless transition to announcing for the UFC, though nobody can say for sure how he'd do in WWE given how much Vince McMahon micromanages his commentary teams.

Fox already offered him a spot on its WWE Backstage show last year, which he declined.

Cormier, a former champion in amateur wrestling, would be an especially good fit if Raw Underground will feature more prominently going forward.

Given the 41-year-old's passion for WWE and his retirement from competition, it might only be a matter of time before he winds up on Raw or SmackDown.

Daniel Cormier said Tuesday that he tested positive for COVID-19 prior to his fight against Stipe Miocic at UFC 252 in August.

Cormier told Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports that he initially tested negative for COVID-19 in early July after a teammate tested positive, but when he began to feel tired and sluggish later in the month, he was tested again and it came back positive.

The 41-year-old Cormier credited the Oura health ring with indicating to him that something was wrong with his body, which resulted in him getting tested again:

"This is not an excuse at all. Miocic won the fight and he fought beautifully. This is a thank you almost to Oura for allowing me to get to the fight. I might have just kept pushing and not known I had it. But I was able to take care of myself properly and then get back into training and compete for the heavyweight championship of the world. Without the ring, I don't think that's possible."

In the third fight of his trilogy against Miocic, Cormier fell at UFC 252 by unanimous decision, resulting in Miocic retaining the UFC Heavyweight Championship.

As with most sports, COVID-19 has had a significant impact on UFC. It forced the promotion to put fights on hold initially before returning without fans, and multiple competitors have had to pull out of fights after testing positive for the virus.

Having to delay Cormier vs. Miocic would have been potentially devastating for UFC since it was one of the most highly anticipated bouts of the year, but Cormier was diagnosed with coronavirus early enough that he was able to recover in the nick of time.

Cormier and Miocic fought twice previously, with Cormier beating Miocic at UFC 226 to win the UFC Heavyweight title and become a two-division champion, and then he dropped the title to Miocic at UFC 241.

Entering the third fight of the trilogy, UFC President Dana White declared that the winner would be deemed the greatest heavyweight in UFC history.

With the win, Miocic improved to 20-3 in his career, while Cormier fell to 22-3, although the mere fact that Cormier was able to compete and go the distance against a fighter of Miocic's caliber only one month after testing positive for COVID-19 speaks to Cormier's ability and will as a fighter.

Cormier has long teased retirement, but after his loss to Miocic, he made it official and decided to step away from the sport as one of the most successful UFC fighters of all time.

While Cormier had many impressive performances over the course of his career, pushing Miocic to the limit after working his way back from COVID-19 has to rank near the top despite the fact that DC came out on the losing end.

Daniel Cormier's final MMA fight left him with a significant eye injury, though it doesn't seem like it will be a long-term issue. 

On ESPN's DC & Helwani Show, Cormier said the torn cornea he suffered against Stipe Miocic at UFC 252 on August 15 won't require surgery:

"I went and saw the doctor last week, and he told me I'm probably not going to have to have surgery, just kind of rest and recover. And today it feels good, but just feels like something in there, you know when you get an eyelash and can't get it out? It's just right in the corner.

"It was concerning initially, because they didn't know how severe the impact was going to be going forward. They didn't know if I was going to have to have surgery and do all these other things. Luckily I was able to recover, and I feel better, and I prefer not to have surgery."

Cormier also stated he's already making plans for his future following his retirement after losing to Miocic by unanimous decision: "Yeah, it's over. And I'm not sad about it. I'm going to miss it, I'm going to miss the training camps, I'm going to miss the fights, there's nothing like a fight week, but you have to understand when it's your time. I feel it's time."

Cormier was accidentally poked in the left eye by Miocic during the third round of their fight. 

"I can't see anything out of my left eye," he said, via CBS Sports' Brent Brookhouse. "It doesn't matter. I just can't see out of my left eye."

The 41-year-old was adamant leading up to the fight that it would be the last match of his career. 

"I would not be goaded into fighting again after this," he told ESPN's Ariel Helwani in June. "I'm going to ride off into the sunset."

Even though the end result wasn't what Cormier wanted, he does leave the sport of mixed martial arts as one of the most decorated fighters in history.

The 11-year MMA fighter finished 22-3 with one no-contest in his career and is one of seven fighters in UFC history to win championships in two weight classes (heavyweight and light heavyweight). 

UFC heavyweight Daniel Cormier discussed his retirement in an Instagram post Monday:

"Thank you all for the love and support. Not what I wanted or expected but it is what it is. Congrats to [Stipe Miocic] on a fantastic fight, was an honor and pleasure to share the octagon with you for 50 minutes. Boy did we give 'em a show everytime. To my team: I love you all to death, you've made so many sacrifices. I hope I made you guys proud. Salina and the kids: thank you for being my motivation. To all the fans: I love you so much. You guys push me to try and be great. To [Dana White] and the [UFC]: I have loved every minute. Thank you for giving me the opportunity. Been a helluva ride, huh?"

Cormier had announced he was retiring after Saturday's loss to Stipe Miocic at UFC 252. 

"I'm not interested in fighting for anything but titles, and I don't imagine there's going to be a title in the future, so that'll be it for me," he told Joe Rogan after the fight.

The 41-year-old was seeking to regain his heavyweight title, which he lost to Miocic in 2019. He had previously beaten Miocic in 2018 to initially win the heavyweight belt.

Cormier had also won the light heavyweight belt during his UFC career, producing a 22-3 overall record in his MMA career (plus one no-contest). His only career losses came to Miocic and Jon Jones, two of the top three fights in the latest UFC pound-for-pound rankings.

A UFC commentator, the California resident has numerous impressive wins on his resume, including over Anderson Silva, Dan Henderson, Frank Mir and Alexander Gustafsson.

Adding in his wrestling career as a former Olympian and world bronze medalist, Cormier is one of the best combat sports athletes of his generation.