Luke Rockhold and Daniel Cormier ‘tried to take each other’s heads off’ in testy spar after UFC legend joined AKA gym

A fly on the wall during the first sparring competition of Luke Rockhold and Daniel Cormier would have been an intriguing company.

Before earning the UFC Middleweight title, Luke Rockhold was one of the Star students at the American Kickboxing Academy in California. While he prepared to go up the middleweight ladder, a UFC Hall of Famer joined his team and welcomed him with a horrible sparring session.

Rockhold and Daniel Cormier are two of the greatest hunters that ever adorn the cage. They are also old friends and teammates with Cormier in Rockhold's corner for some of the greatest fights of his career, including his middleweight title victory on Chris Weidman.

Rockhold was one of the first people to meet Cormier when he first came to a relatively unknown point in his combat sport career. While the two quickly built a strong bond in and out of the gym, their first exchanges were aimed at throwing hands and making each other better by brutal sessions.

Photo by Ed Mulholland/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Luke Rockhold gave Daniel Cormier a cheeky welcome to aka

During a recent interview with Submission Radio, Rockhold shared what happened when Cormier entered the American Kickboxing Academy for the first time.

“The moment DC entered the gym, I called him for a sparring competition, and we went toe-toe and tried to put each other's heads off,” Rockhold said. “I like to test new talent, and there are always the most difficult guys in the world, aka was great. And clearly everyone we had was great. '

Rockhold and Cormier were two of the top strikers in the UFC at the time of their physical prime numbers. Cormier's knockout from Stipe Miocic to become a two-division champion at UFC 226 is one of the wildest finishes in heavyweight history.

Rockhold spent Weidman on UFC 194 to conquer the UFC Middleweight Championship. He also finished as Lyoto Machida, Costas Philippou and Michael Bisping during his career.

Luke Rockhold and Daniel Cormier helped to convert each other into world champions

Since a loss for Paulo Costa on UFC 278, Rockhold has not fought in the UFC-Oachthoek. He returned to Fighting in his bald debut against Mike Perry in April 2023 and lost TKO through second round.

Rockhold appeared on Karate Combat 45 last April and won a TKO fight on the third round for Elite Kickboxer Joe Schilling. He recently came to the Global Fight League for the inaugural season of the promotion.

Cormier withdrew from the UFC in 2020 after a trilogy loss for Miocic on UFC 252. In 2022 he entered the UFC Hall of Fame next to their old teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Rockhold and Cormier formed each other in well -known names in the UFC after their first sparring session. Their success shows the value of team chemistry in a sport that is individually focused.

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