Despite training for the biggest match of his professional career against Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier has accepted an enormous amount of responsibility as the new captain of the American Kickboxing Academy, replacing Jon Fitch.
“Throughout my entire life, I’ve always been a captain,” Cormier said. “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.”
While Fitch has not officially left AKA, his recent move to Las Vegas, prompted the gym’s co-founder to name a replacement.
“He was the only logical choice,” AKA co-head coach and founder Javier Mendez said. “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.”
