Former dual weight UFC champion Daniel Cormier will complete his trilogy with Stipe Miocic at UFC 242 on August 15. Ahead of the bout, Cormier has denied intentionally eye-poking Miocic in their first two fights. The current heavyweight king has been sidelined since dethroning ‘DC’ at UFC 241 in August 2019. Miocic suffered an injured retina in the main event match-up that required surgery.
Speaking to MMA Fighting ahead of his final fight in MMA Cormier insisted he would never purposefully try to eye poke Micoic or any other fighter, he said.
“I’m not purposely doing that. I’m not purposely poking him in the eye. That first fight, I kind of poked him in the eye but the issue with that was sometimes when I spar and because I’m shorter, I have the 16-ounce gloves, I can kind of flick my hand towards guys and hit them when they’re a little bit out of range. I think that’s what happened the first time.
“The second time, once I think my knuckle got jammed into his eye but that’s not a finger. I kind of punched and the thumb was tucked into a fist but the knuckle got him in the eye.”
“I’m not trying to poke the guy in the eye. That’s f**king stupid,” Cormier said. “Why would I ever do that? I don’t wish long term damage to this guy’s eye. I don’t wish that the guy can’t see out of his freaking eye. That’s crazy.
“One of my friends and co-workers deals with that, Michael Bisping. I don’t want to see another guy having to deal with that. That’s crazy. I’m not trying to poke this guy in the eye.”
“I’ve gotten thumbed to the eye by Stipe before,” Cormier said. “It’s not like he’s never thumbed me in the eye. He’s stuck me in the eye before. Whatever.”
Do you think Daniel Cormier intentionally tried to eye poke Stipe Miocic?