Stop me if you've heard this one before: A big-time heavyweight showdown on the horizon owes its existence to a controversy surrounding Alistair Overeem.
For this one, though, you won't have to wait until next weekend and UFC 146: Dos Santos vs. Mir.
As Daniel Cormier prepares to face Josh Barnett on Saturday night in the finals of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, it's worth noting that the former Olympic wrestler is in the competition because of the controversy that saw Overeem - then the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion - cut from the promotion over a dispute with his former management at Team Golden Glory. That opened up a spot in the tournament for Cormier, a fourth-place finisher in freestyle wrestling at the 2004 Olympics. Now, after knocking out Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva in the tournament semifinals - after Silva dominated Fedor Emelianenko in the first round - Cormier has a chance to score the biggest victory of his career on Saturday night when he faces Josh Barnett, giving him a 10-0 record as a mixed martial artist and a huge momentum boost when the Strikeforce heavyweight division is officially absorbed into the UFC after Saturday's fight.
To do that, though, he'll have to get past Josh Barnett. UFC president Dana White may not be any fan of Barnett given his history of steroid suspensions, there's no doubt that the "Warmaster" is the toughest opponent that Barnett has ever faced. A former heavyweight champion in the UFC and Pancrase, Barnett's grappling and submission skills could put him in perfect position to respond if and when Cormier's Olympic-class wrestling results in a takedown. Cormier has no reservations about mixing it up in the striking game, of course - four of his MMA wins are by knockout and two more saw his opponent submit to strikes - but given the reach disadvantage he'll face against Barnett, his best bet may be to try to take Barnett to the mat and control the fight on the ground, and that's no easy task when fighting a man who has 19 career wins by submission.
After the fight, Cormier will head to the UFC, where he's already been featured - in a limited role - as an assistant coach to Josh Koscheck on the 12th season of The Ultimate Fighter. Koscheck, like Cormier, started as a decorated wrestler and grew into a complete mixed martial artist through his training at American Kickboxing Academy (although Koscheck has since left to start his own camp). In Cormier, Javier Mendez, "Crazy" Bob Cook and the AKA staff have another success story on their hands.
The next chapter takes place Saturday night.
