Daniel Cormier Named New Head Coach OF AKA

Already having the title of the 2008 United States Olympic wrestling team captain on his resume, UFC light heavyweight title contender Daniel Cormier is now the captain of an entirely different team.

News broke from MMA Fighting tonight (Tues., October 7, 2014) that Cormier has been named the new team captain of American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) after former captain Jon Fitch has relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada.

Cormier joined AKA back in 2009, and rose to prominence training alongside UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez. It’s a role that Cormier is obviously used to having, and he elaborated on the honor that the position brings him:

“Throughout my entire life, I’ve always been a captain. I was the captain of my high school team. I was the captain at Oklahoma State University. I was the captain of the 2008 Olympic team. So this is normal for me.

I’m honored to be one of the guys that is seen as a leader of this great team — a team that has stood the test of time. AKA is one of the only teams that has been around since the beginning of the MMA explosion, and it’s a huge honor for me to be named captain.”

Slated to face off with arch enemy Jon Jones in the main event of January 3’s UFC 182, Cormier described how the vote came down to himself and another UFC contender and former Strikeforce champion, No. 5-ranked middleweight Luke Rockhold:

“The moment of the vote was very tense because it was down to me and Luke Rockhold. But at the end of the day, I won in a landslide. His time will come. He’s a lot younger than I am. This is a great opportunity for me to show the younger guys, in my gym how we want to be viewed as a fight team.”

Apparently Fitch is still part of the extended team, but he longer trains at the San Jose, Calif.-based home gym. Although Fitch was reportedly captain of the team for more than five years, AKA founder Javier Mendez confirmed that “DC” was the only man for the job:

“He was the only logical choice. DC is hands down a team player and better as a team captain. Every sport he does he always becomes the team leader and everybody recognizes him as such.”

Cormier has added another illustrious title to his ever-growing list of accomplishments. But will he add the title of UFC light heavyweight champion when he faces off with Jones early next year?