5 wrestlers who became UFC champions

#2 Henry Cejudo

UFC 249 Cejudo vs Cruz

Henry Cejudo is a former UFC bantamweight and flyweight champion and the fourth UFC fighter to hold titles in multiple divisions simultaneously. He is considered one of the greatest athletes of all time due to his accomplishments in MMA and freestyle wrestling.

'Triple C' started wrestling in high school, and became a four-time Arizona state champion. He was named the ASICS National High School Wrestler of the Year in 2006, and was selected in the USA Wrestling Magazine's Dream Team of High School All-Americans.

Henry Cejudo has won many wrestling championships at the national level, Pan American level, world level and at the Olympics. At the age of 21 and competing at the 2008 Summer Olympics, Cejudo became the youngest American Olympic gold medalist.

He made his UFC debut in 2014, and went 10-2, before retiring as the reigning champion of the flyweight and bantamweight divisions in 2020.

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#1 Daniel Cormier

UFC 252 Miocic vs Cormier 3: Weigh-Ins

Like all wrestlers on this list making their mark in the UFC, Daniel Cormier also started wrestling in high school. He won three state championships in Louisiana, and was voted the most outstanding wrestler of the state tournament on two occasions. In 1995, Cormier won a bronze in the world championship in Greco-Roman wrestling.

After high school, he became a two-time junior college national champion, in 1998 and 1999, picking up a record of 61-0. He became an NCAA Division I All-American after winning silver in 2001, and then transformed into one of the most promising wrestlers in the US.

Daniel Cormier won gold in the 2002 and 2003 Pan American championships, and then picked up six gold medals every year, starting from 2003 to 2008 in the US National Championships. DC also competed twice in the Olympics, coming fourth at the 2004 Games. He was named the team captain at the 2008 Olympics, but had to pull out due to kidney failure.

He is a former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion and the second fighter in UFC history to hold two titles simultaneously. Riding on his superior wrestling skills, Cormier has toyed with some of the most seasoned veterans in the UFC.

Prior to his time in the UFC, Daniel Cormier was the heavyweight champion at Strikeforce and King of the Cage. He holds the distinction of winning a championship belt in every MMA promotion he fought.