Daniel Cormier revisits Dana White's reaction to his UFC debut - "All he did was hug the guy"

Today marks the exact date of Daniel Cormier's 10-year old UFC debut. Back in 2013, the future two-division champion and Hall of Famer faced legendary heavyweight grappler Frank Mir. At the time, 'DC' was the former Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament champion.

Frank Mir, however, was a former UFC heavyweight champion fresh off a title fight against Junior dos Santos. Ten years later, 'DC' recounted how nervous he was during the bout, explaining that he was so fearful of losing, all he did was clinch with his foe. He said as much on his DC & RC show with Ryan Clark.

"I hugged Frank Mir for 15 minutes. I was so nervous, RC, I didn't want to lose so bad, that I just clinched him a lot of the time and it was a really boring fight."

Daniel Cormier also reflected on Dana White's less-than-stellar reaction to the clinch-heavy nature of his UFC debut.

"And you know how I tell you, the, you know, it's boring, RC? Because I was working at Fox at the time, and I remember going to, going to work on Wednesday and Dana used to come to this show called UFC Tonight all the time and he walked up to me and he goes 'Oh, you're hosting the Big Show already'. And I was so excited and so happy, Ryan, and that dude goes, and that person from the show goes 'It doesn't look like he fought, right Dana?' And Dana goes 'Well he didn't, all he did was hug the guy for 15 minutes'."

While Cormier's bout with Mir wasn't the most exciting clash in the world, 'DC' eventually carved out a career as one of the all-time great mixed martial artists.

---

Who has Daniel Cormier lost to in MMA?

Daniel Cormier has been an undefeated fighter for most of his career. The former UFC double champion has only ever tasted defeat to two fighters, albeit on more than one occasion. While he began his career as a heavyweight, he later transitioned to the light heavyweight division in the name of friendship.

His best friend Cain Velasquez was the reigning heavyweight champion at the time, so to fulfill his aspirations of becoming a UFC champion, he dropped down to 205 lbs and challenged Jon Jones. Their first clash was a loss for 'DC', while their rematch, which was initially a loss, was later ruled a no-contest.

He also suffered two defeats to UFC heavyweight GOAT Stipe Miocic, with the first loss being a TKO and the second a unanimous decision that led to Daniel Cormier retiring from the sport.