Daniel Cormier comments on the UFC's male American champion drought

Daniel Cormier is one of the greatest fighters in UFC history, marking one of the last eras when male American champions were plentiful in the promotion. Now, there's been a shift, and 'DC' believes it all comes down to the lack of financial compensation the UFC provides compared to amateur wrestling, which offers hundreds of thousands of dollars for coaching positions.

Daniel Cormier blames wrestling for the UFC's decline in male American champions

The UFC is notorious for its pay structure, with several fighters having previously revealed the need for a second part-time job before shooting up the rankings. Daniel Cormier, a UFC Hall of Famer and former two-division champion, believes wrestling, which compensates its athletes better at the lower level, is to blame for the absence of male American champions in the promotion. He argues that most wrestlers would rather coach for $200,000 per year than fight, saying as much on episode 30 of Y'all Street (52:09):

"It's like we don't have a male American champion right now. I think we might have done so much that the American wrestler isn't as available right now. There are RTCs (regional training centers) in wrestling where guys make a little more money. Remember, I told you? I used to sit back going, 'How many times did I go right, when I should have went left?' Now, right is $200,000 a year to coach, and most wrestlers think that $200,000 is a lot of money."

To Cormier's point, there are only two male American champions in the UFC. Justin Gaethje recently won the lightweight title with a fourth-round TKO of Ilia Topuria at UFC Freedom 250. Several divisions higher at middleweight, Sean Strickland scored his own upset by beating Khamzat Chimaev via split-decision for the 185-pound belt at UFC 328. However, while Gaethje comes from a wrestling background, he rarely relies on his offensive wrestling, and Strickland isn't a wrestler at all. Given how dense previous generations were with male American champions, Cormier is right to question the lack of high-level male American wrestlers transitioning to MMA.

One of the few high-level American wrestling standouts in the UFC is Bo Nickal, who competes at middleweight and is currently 9-1. Unfortunately, he has yet to reach the championship heights expected of him.