Cormier relishes Strikeforce chance

Despite his status as one of Strikeforce's brightest prospects, two-time Olympic wrestler Daniel Cormier was left out of the organization's eight-man heavyweight tournament when the bracket was announced in January.

The snub has actually worked out well for him. Cormier was able to stay active and win two fights this year to move to 9-0. Now he finds himself in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix anyway, having been named to fill the semifinal spot vacated by Alistair Overeem.

Overeem, the Strikeforce champion, was released by the organization in August and subsequently signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

"It's a great time for me and my career," Cormier said. "I feel like I've turned the corner and right now is the time to test myself. How am I going to know when I'm prepared to be a contender without actually stepping up to the plate and beating someone?"

Cormier, 32, gets that chance when he meets Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva in the semifinals tonight in Cincinnati on a card that airs tape-delayed on Showtime at 10 p.m. Silva advanced with a quarterfinal stoppage of Fedor Emelianenko.

Josh Barnett will face Sergei Kharitonov in tonight's other semifinal.

Cormier acknowledged he will be at a disadvantage in size, strength and experience against Silva. He said he believes his edge will lie in his speed and, most importantly, his wrestling skills.

Cormier finished fifth in freestyle wrestling at the 2004 Olympics and was captain of the U.S. squad in 2008, only to be kept out of action by a kidney problem.

"The most dominant skill in MMA lately has been wrestling, and there is no bigger gap in between skill sets than my wrestling over his wrestling," Cormier said. "So that in itself will actually keep me in the fight, if that's the path I take in the fight."

The Oklahoma State graduate has been expanding his striking repertoire while training at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Calif., but he has no problem grinding out wins on the mat.

Cormier said wrestlers in mixed martial arts have been unfairly criticized because of a perception that they simply work for takedowns, then hold opponents down, hoping to win by decision.

"At the end of the day, it's about winning. You have to win," he said. "It's not my job, it's not Jon Fitch's job, it's not Josh Barnett's job to actually teach somebody takedown defense. It's their job to learn takedown defense. If they can't defend a takedown, then they deserve to lay on their back for 15 minutes."

"Why should I or anybody else that knows how to wrestle give up their biggest advantage?"

Cormier hopes to exploit that edge tonight and earn a berth into the finals.

Also on the card, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza will put his middleweight title on the line against Luke Rockhold.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.