Black History Month is here, and with it, famous African and African-American personalities from all walks of life are celebrated under the spotlight. From Michael Jordan to Muhammad Ali, the black community has given us some of the most iconic names in sports entertainment. But what about mixed martial arts? Well, there’s plenty there too, with names like Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier, Kamaru Usman, and Demetrious Johnson to name a few. But MMA being a relatively young sport, it didn’t have too many icons back when it started, except for say, Art Jimmerson who was predominantly a boxer. And for former double champ Daniel Cormier, this was a major talking point.

“There wasn’t many mixed martial arts fighters where I was from… Cain Velasquez explained to me that a lot of times, as a kid, you will try to emulate or follow the person that looks like you a little bit,” Daniel Cormier told Chael Sonnen on the Good Guy/Bad Guy show. “So, basketball players, we all thought we could be Michael Jordan because that is what we saw in our community. You didn’t see as many [black] fighters. Cain Velasquez, though, watched Julio Cesar Chavez. So all he wanted to do was fight.”

But the fact that Daniel Cormier was able to pave the way for others by becoming a double champion and being the only fighter to defend the light heavyweight and the heavyweight titles in the UFC has changed the whole scenario for the black community. Moreover, he also paid his dues to Jon Jones, with whom he had one of the most epic and heated rivalries, and Cormier also revealed that fans come up to him to talk about that rivalry, claiming to have been inspired to become fighters themselves.

“For me, we didn’t have many fighters. We had boxers, right? But in terms of mixed martial arts, it was not really on the radar. So for me to be a black fighter, to have the legacy that I have, to have the rivalry that I had with Jon Jones, it means a ton to me because I know now that more kids can look at me, they can look at Jones, they can look at Usman, Rashad Evans, and all these fighters and go, ‘I want to be like Leon Edwards. I want to be like that guy’,” ‘DC’ added.

When Cain Velasquez was Daniel Cormier’s teammate, ‘DC’ found out that the former heavyweight champion’s love for fighting came from one of the biggest combat sports athletes in Mexican history, Julio Cesar Chavez. But growing up in Lafayette, Louisiana, the Hall of Famer struggled to find anyone who shared the same interest in MMA or endeavored in that sport. Hence, for Cormier’s community, it was mostly about replicating the same feats that Michael Jordan did in the NBA.

And despite his controversial past with Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier once claimed that “there is good” in the UFC heavyweight champion’s heart. Likewise, ‘Bones’ also had some kind words for Cormier, years after their epic rivalry. Here’s what Jon Jones had to say.

What does Jon Jones think of Daniel Cormier?

There was a time when Jon Jones couldn’t stand Daniel Cormier, but all that seems to have changed now. The Albuquerque native once called ‘DC’ his biggest motivator and the reason behind that is the fact that the former Olympian, in his own words, was the best fighter he ever stepped foot inside the Octagon with. Not only was Cormier’s wrestling commendable to Jones, but his striking skills as well.

“I think Daniel Cormier is probably the most skilled,” Jon Jones stated during the UFC 309 media day. “His Olympic-level wrestling, dirty boxing, and his boxing.” This rightfully sums up why Daniel Cormier deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, as one thing is for sure, which is that Jones will also find himself in that elite group one day when he sums up his illustrious MMA career.

While Daniel Cormier is now a well-respected analyst and commentator, Jon Jones is still fighting and continuing to inspire the people of his community. Let us know your opinion on the representation of the black community in mixed martial arts in the comments down below.