Daniel Cormier wants Roy Nelson to stick around the UFC just a little longer.
Cormier told MMAFighting.com on Thursday that he wants to fight Nelson at UFC 166 on Oct. 19 in Houston in what will be his last fight at heavyweight.
“Roy and I still have some unfinished business,” Cormier said. “I hope he re-signs with the UFC, so we can settle what he started two months ago.
“I want to find a way to give him a pass for his performance against Stipe [Miocic at UFC 115] since he took that fight on such short notice. In my eyes, that loss didn’t do much to diminish his place in the UFC heavyweight division.”
Nelson did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.
Cormier took exception to the fact that Nelson claimed he turned down a fight against him at UFC 161, when Cormier says he was never medically cleared to fight Nelson on short notice in Winnipeg on June 15.
After Nelson insinuated Cormier turned the fight down, Cormier told FUEL TV’s “UFC Tonight” that he wanted to, “Kick his ass for Dana White,” who Nelson has publicly feuded with in the past. At the UFC 115 media day, Nelson replied, “Having a lot of black friends, they would say that would be more of an Uncle Tom move.”
Nelson went on to lose to Miocic via unanimous decision, and thus entered free agency. According to sources close to the situation, the UFC is still working on re-signing “Big Country” and are interested in matching up the heavyweights.
Nelson (19-8) had won three fights in a row prior to his loss to Miocic last month, while Cormier (12-0) won his UFC debut against Frank Mir in April. He plans on making a run at the light heavyweight title following his last fight at heavyweight.
UFC 166, headlined by Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos 3, will be held at the Toyota Center.