It’s no secret that former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier at all times retains a watchful eye on the very best wrestlers arising in america.
As a two-time Olympian and present coach of a high-school wrestling group, Cormier stays near the game he grew up loving earlier than turning into a fighter, nevertheless it seems he truly interacted with a future American gold medalist a number of years in the past and didn’t even comprehend it. Primarily coaching out of the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Cormier crosses paths with quite a lot 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 at all times be across the Bay space with a lady 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 good 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 photos of Amit, and Carolyn would take photos of Amit with the group. That’s one factor they do in MMA gyms. On the finish of follow, everyone will get collectively for a photograph. Amit’s in quite a lot of these photos.”
Elor’s work clearly paid off. She captured gold at 68kg with a surprising run via the 2024 Olympics, finally outscoring her opponents by a ridiculous margin of 31-2. At 20 years previous, 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 advised Cormier earlier than the Olympics began that she was going to dominate the sector.
“Carolyn goes, ‘Amit’s wrestling [at the Olympics],’ and I’m 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 vogue, she shared that glory along with her teammates after the U.S. girls went residence 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 sector after that.”
Whereas Elor’s focus stays on wrestling, particularly with the 2028 Olympics taking place in her residence state of California, she has quite a lot of time left to perform much more targets.
Elor might probably wrestle throughout at the very least 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 struggle,” Cormier mentioned. “She’s going to be a fighter. For pretty much as good as she is in wrestling, she does very well in judo, she does large in jiu-jitsu. If she does begin doing [MMA] competitively, they’re going to be in hassle.”
First issues first, Cormier desires Elor to stay with wrestling as a result of she’s going to stay an enormous asset to the American group. As a lot as Cormier beloved 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 really like when nice wrestlers come into blended martial arts, however I’m at all times for them doing it after they’re carried out chasing their Olympic desires. You don’t get to try this once more. When you have a chance to be the very best on the earth, you chase that so long as you may and you then go do one thing totally different. I don’t suppose it needs to be coming sooner than wanted.
“You go and wrestle so long as it is advisable wrestle, and you then come to try to make the cash because the UFC fighter.”
