UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier is willing to give Stipe Miocic a rematch, provided the Brock Lesnar fight fails to materialize.
Daniel Cormier reigns over the UFC’s light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, although if he’s true to his word, he’ll be retiring when he turns 40 next March. Having successfully beaten Stipe Miocic at UFC 226, attention turned immediately to a mega-fight against former champion Brock Lesnar, who still has to serve out his USADA suspension for the remainder of 2018.
Lesnar is back in the USADA testing pool, but if all goes well, Cormier is on course for a huge payday to cap off a brilliant career. Should Brock suffer an injury or another drug test failure, Cormier’s Plan B is to rematch the man he just knocked out in the first-round.
“[Miocic] should [get a rematch], but he went three [defenses]. Three is a lot different than 11,” Cormier said after the UFC 227 broadcast (via MMA Fighting). “And also, if Brock Lesnar was staring at Stipe, that would happen, but I’ll tell you this right now, I’ll tell you this on record: If Brock Lesnar doesn’t make it to the fight for any reason, I’ll fight Stipe again. That is not a problem.
“There is no reason I wouldn’t fight Stipe. I’m only fighting Brock because I’m fighting Brock. But if he doesn’t make it, I’ll fight Stipe again. There you go.”
Miocic recently demanded a rematch with Cormier, citing his record of consecutive heavyweight title defenses and “cleaning out the division.” He’s not scheduled to fight anyone at the moment, and there’s no date lined up yet for Lesnar vs. Cormier.
The original subject of discussion with Cormier, Jon Anik, and Joe Rogan stemmed from Cormier saying that Demetrious Johnson deserves a rematch with Henry Cejudo, who became the new flyweight champion after an upset win via split decision. Johnson had defended his title 11 times, a UFC record, but Cejudo has already expressed interest in moving up to bantamweight to take on TJ Dillashaw next.
“If Demetrious Johnson doesn’t get a rematch, there is no hope for any of us in the entire world, because that means that nothing you could ever do will warrant getting an immediate title shot [rematch].”
Before retirement, Cormier intends to defend both the light heavyweight and heavyweight belts, although it’s a lot less clear as to whom he’d fight at 205 lbs.