For Daniel Cormier, UFC 220 is like déjà vu all over again.

Three years ago, the former heavyweight standout-turned-light heavyweight contender was coming off a loss to Jon Jones when the talented, but troubled superstar was involved in a hit-and-run accident in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The accident occurred less than a month prior to defending his title against Anthony “Rumble” Johnson at UFC 187 in Las Vegas.

Removed from the contest and stripped of his title, the UFC sought a replacement for Jones in a bout with Johnson to crown a new light heavyweight champion. Cormier got the call, showed up and submitted the knockout artist in the third round to claim the vacant title.

UFC 220: Who takes home the gold and glory between Cormier, Oezdemir?

Heading into Saturday’s showdown with Volkan Oezdemir, it’s easy to understand why Cormier sees a number of similarities between the two contests.
He’s coming off a loss to Jones for the second time in his career and once again, the consensus greatest fighter in the history of the sport has put himself on the sidelines and forced the UFC to strip him of the light heavyweight title.

While he officially enters as the defending champion, Cormier has said he feels like he’s fighting for a vacant title this weekend in Boston and he believes he’ll emerge with a similar result as he achieved the last time he was in this position.

“I feel like this fight is almost identical to the first 'Rumble' fight where Jon had gotten into trouble and gotten himself suspended and then they took the next two best guys to fight for the championship,” Cormier told Sporting News. “I lost the fight in July and they put me right back in there.
“I’ve been here before. In the first instance, I was able to overcome adversity and a very tough guy in Anthony Johnson. I anticipate winning this fight.”

Cormier’s time atop the division has been a source of much debate and discussion as his twin title reigns have been a result of Jones disqualifying himself from competition, as the American Kickboxing Academy product likes to say.

His detractors point to his losses to Jones and question the validity of his standing atop the division, while others recognize the circumstances through which Cormier has ascended to the light heavyweight throne. Some point to his otherwise flawless record as proof that in the absence of Jones, the former Olympian is the unquestioned top talent in the division and deserving of consideration in the greatest of all-time conversation.

No matter the side you take, it’s hard to envision a future where Cormier’s career doesn’t carry an asterisk, especially given that Jones is staring down the barrel of a lengthy suspension and “DC” has said this could be his final year competing inside the cage.
For some, being measured by your setbacks and not the multitude of victories accrued over the course of an athletic career spanning nearly 25 years would be a difficult pill to swallow, but for Cormier, it doesn’t matter.

He knows what he’s done and he’s not worried about proving critics wrong or changing the minds of fans that will only ever see him as the guy who lost to Jones.
“When I go win this fight on Saturday, I validate myself,“ Cormier said. “I love the fans, but I don’t have to prove anything to them.
“If they want to say that ‘DC’s not a champion’ or has never been a champion, that’s them; I can’t change that opinion. It does not matter how many people I beat, it does not matter how long I have the championship, they’re going to say and do the same exact things, so it doesn’t matter.

“It’s not my goal to convince anybody of anything,” he added. “I’m just going to do what is best for me because when I’m older, I’m always going to be able to go look in the record books and that title reign will be there. So regardless of whether people want to accept it or not is on them.”

The success Cormier has enjoyed throughout his career — both as a mixed martial artist and as a decorated wrestler — are not only a large part of the reason he’s confident about his place in the record books, but it’s also a big part of why he believes this weekend’s showdown with Oezdemir will end with him proving the surging challenger is not on his level.

As impressive as the 28-year-old Swiss standout has been during his current three-fight winning streak, beating Ovince Saint Preux, Misha Cirkunov and Jimi Manuwa isn’t the same as sharing the cage with some of the icons and legends Cormier has faced during his march to the top of the division. The 38-year-old Cormier believes there is no way Oezdemir will be prepared for everything he’s going to throw at him Saturday night in Boston.

“In order to be able to compete with me in the situations I’m going to put him in, you’ve got to spend your youth in the wrestling room and he didn’t,” Cormier said of his opponent. “You can’t learn in four years how to defend takedowns from a guy like me. You can’t learn the little details that I’m going to make him deal with inside the Octagon.

“I’ve learned from Jones. I’ve learned from Anderson Silva. I’ve learned from Dan Henderson. I’ve learned from Anthony Johnson. I’ve learned from Alexander Gustafsson, Josh Barnett, Antonio 'Bigfoot' Silva. These are the guys that I’ve learned from inside the Octagon. Who has he had in that regard?
“I believe that he believes he is going to win the fight, no doubt, and I know he’s dangerous, but I had to learn a lot of lessons inside that Octagon in order to have the mentality that I have today.”

Spurred on by a second loss to Jones and a familial decision to not be the guy still stepping into the cage into his 40s, Cormier is laser-focused on making a statement on this weekend and starting what could be the final year of his career with a bang.

“I always want to go out and beat guys as convincingly as I can, so that hasn’t changed, but because of the result of the last fight, because of what I’ve always said…” said Cormier, trailing off as he gathered his words.

“Me saying that I don’t want to fight when I’m 40 isn’t an indication of me losing focus or me losing the desire to compete,” he said, clarifying the comments about calling it a career that he first made with Brett Okamoto of ESPN. “It’s a personal choice that we’ve made as a family and I knew that time would come. I’ve always accepted that and I’m OK with that.

“I just want to enjoy the competition as I can right now,” he added. “I’ve had a lot of athletic endeavors over my life and this is the last one.
“Once this is gone — once this fighting, once this UFC is gone — I have to live all my athletic competition through my two kids, Daniel and Marquita, so I don’t know what this year is going to hold, but I’m looking forward to it being pretty good.