ESPN ‘Dominant 20’ lists UFC champ Daniel Cormier at No. 3

Who is the most dominant athlete in sports?

ESPN recently released its “Dominant 20” list to find out, and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight and light heavyweight champion, Daniel Cormier, landed at No. 3. He was the only mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter to make the list.

It’s hard to argue his dominance in combat sports. The only mark on the Olympian’s cage fighting career comes in the form of Jon Jones, widely-considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the game.

Outside of his “Bones” rivalry, Cormier (22-1, 1 NC) was the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix champion and also captured the UFC heavyweight crown from Stipe Miocic at the UFC 220 pay-per-view (PPV) event to kick off the new year.

“What an honor to be mentioned with these other amazing athletes,” Cormier wrote on Twitter. “I couldn’t ever imagine a year like this. Now all I need is that nice shiny ESPY for fighter of the year and I’m set. Thank you all for your support this year and throughout my entire career. We did this together.”

Cormier is expected to defend his 265-pound title against the returning Brock Lesnar in first-quarter 2019. Taking the top two spots on the ESPN list were marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge (No. 2) and Olympian Simone Biles (No. 1).