Daniel Cormier has been talking about the potential UFC fighter of the year for a while now. Recently he picked Ciryl Gane as his fighter of the year and seemed positive the Frenchman was the right pick.

Recently, Daniel Cormier went on ESPN and changed his pick. He went with the UFC welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman.

“I did the weigh-in show a couple of weeks ago and honestly, I picked Ciryl Gane,” Former UFC fighter, Cormier said. “Because Ciryl Gane beat [Alexander] Volkov, he beat Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and then he won the interim championship to put himself in that fight with Francis Ngannou. So I had picked him, but then when I started to think about it and I think who Kamaru has beaten, how Kamaru has beaten them — we don’t get champions like Kamaru Usman who are as dominant and as long-reigning as he is that fight as often. But we should because if you’re that far ahead of the competition, why not collect the checks? Why not continue to dominate? Why not continue to go in there?

“Because think about this, he knocked out Gilbert Burns in two rounds,” the former UFC champion continued. “He knocked out Masvidal in two rounds. And then he had to go to war with Colby Covington, but you don’t get to fight Colby Covington over and over and over again. So if everybody else you can get out of there pretty quickly, why not continue to go out there and get your money? Kamaru Usman this year has not only defended the belt three times but he’s also made a jump in terms of his profile, his visibility, his marketability.

“Everything is at a new level for Kamaru Usman and that is only because he went out there and knocked out ‘Street Jesus’ bad. He beat a guy many consider 1A in Colby Covington again. And he also knocked out his former training partner after being hurt. Fantastic year for the champ, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ Kamaru Usman. That’s my pick.”

Daniel Cormier could still change his mind on the pick. The former UFC champion can't help but include Charles Oliveira on his list as well.

“It’s so crazy whenever you think about how I want to give it to Usman, but then you start to tell Do Bronx’s year and you’re like, ‘Wow.’ Maybe the guy that we didn’t expect to be here because Usman was already here last year but Charles Oliveira, he’s not that guy anymore that quits. So y’all can all let that go. If you’re his opponent, you think that you’re gonna break him, you have completely lost your mind. This dude is an absolute killer.

“Like I said, ‘The Brazilian Superman.’ ‘Clark Kent’ hit the octagon steps, dude turns into Superman. Jon Anik said, ‘That’s why they play the game.’ They play the game for [Julianna Pena] doing what she did and Charles Oliveira showing he’s the best lightweight by finishing Dustin Poirier.”

It's clear the race for UFC fighter of the year is a very fun one. There are plenty of excellent names to choose from as Daniel Cormier showed.