Video: Daniel Cormier talks about breaking the ‘Conan’ curse

Daniel Cormier learned to be comfortable in front of the camera a long time ago, but he had his reasons for wanting to skip one late night TV stop.

Appearing on Conan, “DC” told host Conan O’Brien that his show has been bad luck for a number of high-profile UFC fighters who went on to lose in dramatic fashion after sitting in O’Brien’s guest chair. Cormier, the reigning light heavyweight champion, challenges Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 226 in Las Vegas on July 7.

He’s hoping to have better luck than his peers who fell prey to the Conan curse.

“Ronda Rousey came and she got thrashed by Amanda Nunes, Miesha Tate also,” Cormier said. “Then you even doubled up on Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor. So Conor came before the first fight and he was supposed to beat Nate and then he lost, just after being on your show. And then Nate come in the second fight, when he was supposed to beat Conor, and then he lost! So up until yesterday, I wasn’t comfortable.”

Cormier and O’Brien also spoke about their shared fear of performing and the eventual excitement that comes once they’re in the spotlight.

“I sit there and I think, how many lefts did I take when I should have went right to end up at this arena where in about three hours I have to fight somebody,” Cormier joked. “And I’m terrified, and I’m nervous, and then right before the fight they put us on a marker and they say, ‘DC, you’re walking in 10.’ And they give me a 10-count. I’m still like, my heart’s fluttering and I’m terrified, I’m scared, and then my music hits the speakers and I run out to the Octagon.

“Once I step in there — because I fight in the main event the vast majority of the time and the UFC builds to the end of the night and I can feel the energy from the bottom of the Octagon and I think to myself right before they say fight, ‘There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.’”