It’s widely known that Cain Velasquez played a large role in longtime AKA teammate Daniel Cormier’s decision to drop down to light heavyweight a few years ago.
At the time, Velasquez was at the top of the heavyweight division. Since then, however, injuries have held him back, as he hasn’t competed since July 2016 and only twice since October of 2013.
As of now, Velasquez appears to be on the road to recovery, although a timetable for his return still remains unclear. Because of that, Cormier jumped at the opportunity to challenge heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic in an exciting super fight at UFC 226 this July during International Fight Week in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Recently speaking up about the fight, “DC” said that after speaking with Velasquez, he realized that it was simply too big an opportunity to pass up:
“I’m excited,” Cormier told TMZ Sports. “It’s a big deal. Great opportunity to fight the greatest heavyweight champion of all time and try to cement myself as one of the best fighters to ever do it.
“I just want to fight. Plus, it’s such a big opportunity. It’s one of those that you can’t really pass up whenever it’s offered to you. Once I talked to Cain Velasquez and he gave me the go-ahead and well wishes, I was like, ‘You know what? I have to do it.’
“I’ve never been afraid of a fight. That’s one thing: I’ve never been afraid of a fight. It was always about whether or not it worked in terms of what I was trying to do and what my teammate had going. Cain said to me he doesn’t think that he would get a title shot right away — ‘So let’s get you prepared to try to be the heavyweight champ of the world.’”
Both Cormier and Miocic last competed at UFC 220 in Boston earlier this month.
Cormier successfully defended his light heavyweight title with a stoppage victory over Volkan Oezdemir, while Miocic successfully defended his strap with a dominant decision win over surging hype train Francis Ngannou.
Moving up in weight, “DC” will get the opportunity to become only the second fighter in UFC history to simultaneously hold two titles in two different weight classes, but he’ll have to beat arguably the most dominant in UFC heavyweight history to do it.
It’s a challenge few outside of Cormier would be willing to take on, but like he said about the fight, it’s just an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. And the fans should be the ones who win in July.
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