It’s no secret that former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier all the time retains a watchful eye on the most effective wrestlers developing in the USA.
As a two-time Olympian and present coach of a high-school wrestling workforce, Cormier stays near the game he grew up loving earlier than turning into a fighter, however it seems he truly interacted with a future American gold medalist a number of years in the past and didn’t even realize it. Primarily coaching out of the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Cormier crosses paths with a variety of fighters, Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners, and wrestlers who additionally work out on the fitness center — and that included future 2024 Olympic gold medalist Amit Elor.
“Somewhat backstory, Amir Elor used to all the time be across the Bay space with a girl named Carolyn Wester, she coached at a membership known as Wrestling Prep and she or he teaches wrestling,” Cormier mentioned on The Fighter vs. The Author. “She’s a woman that coaches and she or he’s an incredible coach, very sensible girl.
“She would carry Amit into [American Kickboxing Academy]. I didn’t know who she was however she would wrestle with the boys. I’ve all these footage of Amit, and Carolyn would take footage of Amit with the workforce. That’s one factor they do in MMA gyms. On the finish of apply, everyone will get collectively for a photograph. Amit’s in a variety of these footage.”
Elor’s work clearly paid off. She captured gold at 68kg with a shocking run by way of the 2024 Olympics, finally outscoring her opponents by a ridiculous margin of 31-2. At 20 years outdated, she additionally grew to become the youngest American to ever win a gold medal in wrestling — a document as soon as held by Henry Cejudo, who gained his gold medal in 2008.
None of it got here to a shock to Elor’s coach, who instructed Cormier earlier than the Olympics began that she was going to dominate the sphere.
“Carolyn goes, ‘Amit’s wrestling [at the Olympics],’ and I am going, ‘The little lady from the fitness center?’” Cormier recounted. “She’s like, ‘Yeah, and she or he’s going to win.’ I’m like, ‘She’s that good?’ And he or she was like, ‘She’s going to win.’”
Not solely did Elor win in emphatic style, she shared that glory together with her teammates after the U.S. ladies went dwelling with two gold medals — the opposite gained by Sarah Hildebrandt — a silver from 20-year-old phenom Kennedy Blades, and a bronze for Helen Maroulis.
“She killed it,” Cormier mentioned of Elor. “That first match, speak about dangerous luck. The World Champion from the 12 months earlier than from that weight class will get the World Champion from the load up in her very first match. [Elor] destroys her. She went onto kill the remainder of the sphere after that.”
Whereas Elor’s focus stays on wrestling, particularly with the 2028 Olympics taking place in her dwelling state of California, she has a variety of time left to perform much more objectives.
Elor might doubtlessly wrestle throughout no less than three Olympic cycles and would solely be 28 when it was throughout.
When the day comes that she hangs her singlet up for the ultimate time, Cormier believes Elor is destined to make waves in MMA.
“She’s going to combat,” Cormier mentioned. “She’s going to be a fighter. For nearly as good as she is in wrestling, she does very well in judo, she does great in jiu-jitsu. If she does begin doing [MMA] competitively, they’re going to be in hassle.”
First issues first, Cormier needs Elor to stay with wrestling as a result of she’s going to stay an enormous asset to the American workforce. As a lot as Cormier liked his UFC profession and the cash and accomplishments that got here together with it, he is aware of there’s nothing fairly like chasing Olympic glory.
“We are able to’t lose Amit Elor,” Cormier mentioned. “I like when nice wrestlers come into combined martial arts, however I’m all the time for them doing it after they’re executed chasing their Olympic goals. You don’t get to try this once more. In case you have a possibility to be the most effective on the planet, you chase that so long as you may and then you definately go do one thing completely different. I don’t suppose it must be coming sooner than wanted.
“You go and wrestle so long as you could wrestle, and then you definately come to try to make the cash because the UFC fighter.”
