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Former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier is entering the final fight of his professional MMA career and things have not been easy. In fact, “DC” may be encountering one of the toughest training camps of his life as he prepares for his trilogy bout with UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic next weekend at UFC 252.
Cormier, who hasn’t competed since getting knockout out by Miocic in their rematch nearly one year ago, has been one of the most durable fighters in all of MMA over the past five years. That’s all well and good but “DC” seems to be having a little more trouble with this training camp compared to others, which is likely an indication that he’s making the right decision to step away from MMA at the age of 41.
“This training camp has been so grueling,” revealed Cormier during a recent interview with TMZ Sports. “It’s been so tough right. I’m like man I remember getting ready to fight three times a year. And it didn’t feel like this. It didn’t feel like this.”
Making matters worse for Cormier is the fact that he has to train for his last UFC fight during a global pandemic due to the spread of COVID-19. Gyms have been closed, training partners have been scarce, and “DC” has been left to figure out a way to safely prepare for Miocic and keep his family protected at the same time.
“Because of the coronavirus, I can’t even stay in the house with my family,” said Cormier. “I’m interacting with a whole bunch of people from the outside. … For the vast majority of this camp, since June 30, the last six weeks of my training camp, I’ve been staying at my old house. … We’ve been essentially staying in a bubble. Me and my training partners, we all just stay at my house.”
“I got a pregnant wife who’s seven-and-a-half months pregnant,” he continuned. “Two kids, a nine-year-old, an eight-year-old, and I’m not even living at home because I’m having to prepare for this fight—but that also shows the commitment from the family to understand what I’m trying to do here is so special,” Cormier said.
Cormier may be coming off a knockout loss to Miocic back at UFC 241 but “DC” remains one of the very best fighters to step inside of the cage over the past 10 years. His work at light heavyweight and heavyweight speaks for itself and should leave no doubt that Cormier will one day end up in the UFC Hall of Fame.
But if “DC” is able to take out Miocic later this month at UFC 252 and prove he’s the better heavyweight, he may go down as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters of all time.
“I think that all the things I’ve done at heavyweight and at light heavyweight makes me one of the greatest fighters of all time, period,” Cormier said. “But if I become a two-time heavyweight champion, there’s only a few guys that’ve done that before in their careers. I think that by being the most dominant heavyweight of all time twice would make me the greatest heavyweight the UFC’s ever seen.”
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