He is a once in a lifetime talent - Daniel Cormier details the experience of sharing Hall of Fame induction with Khabib Nurmagomedov

Daniel Cormier is happy and honored to know that he'll be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame class of 2022 alongside his American Kickboxing Academy teammate and former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

'DC' revealed that he had no idea that he would be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year before it was formally announced during the UFC 274 broadcast on May 7.

Cormier said that just before the announcement, he was texting 'The Eagle', congratulating him on being inducted into the HOF before him despite being his "little brother."

The former two-division champion hailed Nurmagomedov as a "once-in-a-lifetime talent" who came to train with him at the AKA gym in San Jose, California and took the UFC by storm soon after.

During a recent episode of ESPN MMA's DC & RC show, Cormier said:

"Right before the show, I was doing a message to Khabib in the back and I said, 'Hey man, for all that we've done, you actually get into the hall of fame before me' and my bosses were smiling because obviously they write the show and they produced the show [so] they knew that I was getting this, but it means a ton because Khabib is a truly once in a lifetime talent that came into San Jose like a whirlwind, man. He was like a tornado that was like our little brother, spoke no english and he ultimately went to the absolute top of the sport."

Watch the full episode below:

---

Daniel Cormier credits his and Khabib Nurmagomedov's success to the American Kickboxing Academy coaches

Daniel Cormier credited his and Nurmagomedov's inductions into the Hall of Fame this year to their coaches at the AKA gym.

He claimed that the facility and its coaches are truly elite and that it's incredible that two HOF inductees from the same year belong to the same team.

Cormier also noted that at one point in time, AKA had three world champions in the UFC simultaneously, himself, Luke Rockhold, and Cain Velasquez, before Nurmagomedov became champion in 2018.

Daniel Cormier thanked the coaching staff, including Javier Mendez, Bob Cook, Leandro Vera, as well as Nurmagomedov's late father Abdulmanap for helping them achieve immense success in the fight game.

"For Bob Cook, Javier Mendez, Leandro Vera, the rest of the coaching staff, Khabib's father, the late great Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov and all the work that he put into all these great Russian athletes for all of us to come together in San Jose in the bay and create that championship culture is truly something special. I cannot wait till July to get all of our coaches back together and they can truly take a bow because this is about as much about them as it is about me and Khabib."

Both Cormier and Khabib are set to be inducted at the Hall of Fame ceremony later this year.