UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier sets a new date for his planned retirement.
UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier was ready to retire last March, when he hit 40 years of age. Those plans, however, were postponed, when he sustained a back injury during UFC 230 title fight against Derrick Lewis in November 2018, which kept him in the sidelines for an extended period.
“DC” was also looking at a fight against Brock Lesnar, which also fell through eventually. He is now slated for a rematch against Stipe Miocic for UFC 241, a fight he anticipates to be his last.
“I always said that I was gonna fight [until I was 40] which would have been March,” Cormier told TMZ Sports (transcript via MMA Weekly). “I couldn’t make that one, so if I hold true to what I was saying, then this would be the final one.
“I don’t anticipate fighting much past this.”
Even with a knockout victory during their first fight at UFC 226 almost a year ago, Cormier is not expecting this rematch to be an easy one.
“I truly believe (Miocic) is going to be a better version of himself,” he said. “I don’t think for a second that he’s going to make the same mistakes he did last time.
“I think it’ll be a much more difficult fight.”
UFC 241 takes place on August 17th in Anaheim, California. Scheduled to co-headline the event is a welterweight bout between Anthony Pettis and Nate Diaz.