Dan Cormier fights tonight. No, not that one

Look closely at the lineup for tonight’s CES MMA 41 event at Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I., and you’ll see a name familiar to most fight fans.

Not in the main event, or even on the main card. Look lower, down to the untelevised prelims, and that’s where you’ll see it: a guy named Dan Cormier fighting in the second bout of the night.

First, the obvious: It’s not that Daniel Cormier, the one who holds the UFC light heavyweight title. This one is on the opposite end of the scale, a 5-foot-4 flyweight with a professional record of 4-6. He just happens to share a name with one of the most successful people in his sport.

He’s not the first person to encounter such a problem. Remember the “other” Jon Jones, the video game content curator (and now author) who is always getting the former UFC champ’s hate tweets?

Cormier’s situation differs in two important ways. For one, he actually competes in the same field as his more famous counterpart, which can make even the simple act of looking up his record somewhat confusing. Secondly, while he also gets social media messages intended for the other guy, the ones he receives generally take on a different tone than many of those aimed at Jones.

Dan Cormier

“It’s pretty comical sometimes, because I’ll get Facebook messages saying what an inspiration I am to people,” Cormier told MMAjunkie. “I’ll read these comments and, a lot of them, they’re very touching. Unfortunately it’s just directed at the wrong person.”

For this Cormier, fighting is a passion, but not quite a job. His career is in the education field, as a teacher’s assistant at a collaborative school for autistic children near his hometown of Providence. He keeps fighting because he loves to compete, but the rewards are different than what he gets from his work.

“My job, it helps me to become a better person, I think, because it teaches me patience, teaches me a different outlook on life,” Cormier said. “It forces me to see things through a different lens.”

Like a lot of fighters, his first introduction to combat sports was high school wrestling. He even attended a wrestling camp at Oklahoma State University, where he got to shake hands with the other Cormier, who was there preparing for the 2004 Olympic Games at the time, he said.

Later, he took up MMA with a friend, and after only a short time training he walked into the gym one day to learn that, without his knowledge, his coach had signed him up for an amateur fight.

Daniel Cormier

“All I really had was my wrestling skills at that point, no standup, no jiu-jitsu, and I had one month to get ready,” Cormier said. “But I just took the fight, and it opened new doors for me. It gave me a whole new, more positive outlook.”

Now Cormier trains at Tri-Force MMA in Pawtucket, R.I., and tonight he takes on a flyweight named David Baxter (3-1). He’s a fighter Cormier knows, one he’s trained with in the past. The two are even somewhat friendly, but that’s no excuse not to fight each other, especially on the fairly small local scene.

“The division for 125-pounders in this area is pretty slim, so you’re bound to run into someone that you know eventually,” Cormier said. “We’re both competitors. If we both want to fight, we’ll probably end up fighting each other sooner or later. So we’ll go out there and scrap, then smile and go get drinks later.”

At least in that respect, with his love of friendly, though fierce competition, this Cormier is not so dissimilar from the other one.

For the latest on CES MMA 41, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.