Daniel Cormier (left)

By Joshua Molina

They say Daniel Cormier has nothing to gain and everything to lose when he collides with Dion Staring at Strikeforce’s final event on Saturday.

They say Cormier is a 20-1 favorite against the veteran.

No one believes that; certainly Cormier doesn’t.

Most MMA fans have never seen Cormier. Most MMA fans won’t watch Strikeforce’s final show. But UFC President Dana White will be watching, and, really, that’s all that matters.
Cormier will need to win convincingly – by KO or submission – to position himself well in the UFC.

The fact is that Cormier has to prove himself every time he steps into the cage.
Coming off a second broken hand, the former Olympian needs to finish the fight with Staring, something he couldn’t do again Josh Barnett.

Staring will come in hungry. There’s nothing more motivating than wanting to prove critics wrong.

Cormier should win; he’s the better fighter. But he needs to make a statement against Staring.

If he wants to fight Jon Jones, or a top heavyweight, Cormier better come out Ronda Rousey-style, and make people care who he is.

. . . The MMA media was buzzing earlier week over reports that Rousey was going to make $75,000 to fight and $75,000 to win against Liz Carmouche at UFC.

UFC denied the report, but more disturbing is the fact that Carmouche will reportedly earn $12,000 to fight and $12,000 to win.

It’s scary that professional fighters, who fight in main events, only earn $12,000.

It’s so much harder to fight for a living, than do just about anything else. After she pays her camp and staff, how much will Carmouche even take home?

. . . KJ Noons, in a major fall from maim event status, will fight on the Showtime Extreme card Saturday night. Noons, who TKO’d Nick Diaz, will fight Ryan Couture.

Noons said he expects to fight in the UFC after Strikeforce closes this weekend. He also said no one has called him.

Noons always puts on great fights and deserves to be in the UFC. A Nate Diaz vs. Noons fight would KO FOX ratings.