Current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier has been adamant that he won’t fight beyond 2019 and realistically only has one more fight left in him before he calls it a day on his combat career.
His original plan was to retire by the end of this month, but since health issues prevented him from fighting, he’s had to push it back just a bit. Plus, there are no signs of Brock Lesnar returning, which is the only fight “DC” is interested in.
But according to UFC President Dana White, Daniel isn’t the one who wants to call it a day, it’s the people around him. And while White is usually the first person to tell a fighter to hang up his gloves once retirement pops into his or her head, he is confident Cormier has at least three more fights left in him.
“I think it was more the people around Daniel Cormier that wanted him to retire than Daniel Cormier himself. I always say this if you even think about retirement you probably should. But the reality is, Cormier is on top of his game, he’s the man, never been beaten at heavyweight, only beat by Jon Jones at Light Heavyweight,” said White during a recent interview with Megan Olivi.
“I think the people around him are looking at how much money he’s making outside of the Octagon and saying, ‘You don’t need to do this anymore.’ He’s done very well for himself and his family,” he added.
Indeed, Cormier has made a second living within the promotion by joining its broadcast team. At 39 years of age, Cormier has been competing in mixed martial arts (MMA) as a professional for around 10 years now, racking up impressive wins at both 205 and 265 pounds, becoming the UFC ‘Champ-champ” last year with a vicious knockout of Stipe Miocic.
Other than his setback to Jon Jones, “DC” has been perfect in his MMA career. Still at the top of his game, Daniel can keep going, and according to White, he’s had that discussion with the powerhouse wrestler and may have convinced him to keep fighting.
“I love this guy. I love Cormier, I love everything about him and I think he’s got three fights left in him. I think that he wants the Lesnar fight, so you make that. Stipe, people want to see the rematch with Stipe,” he added.
“Stipe wants to see the rematch with Stipe. And then possibly Jon Jones again at either Heavyweight or Light Heavyweight. So I think retirement for him is just a year premature. And we talked and I think he agreed with me,” revealed Dana.
Of course, Daniel hasn’t come out and made any statements about fighting beyond a fight against Lesnar, so we have to wait until that actually happens before we start planning Jones vs Cormier 3.
As for Brock, White did says he expects to here from the former Heavyweight champion about a possible return this summer.
“Brock Lesnar is doing his thing with WWE. One of the things about Brock Lesnar is, when that guy is ready to fight, he is not shy. He will call me and let me know,” said White. “And to be honest with you, I am hoping to hear from that guy this summer.”
“I think both guys really want it, Cormier wants it bad,” said White of a fight between the two big men. “I know Cormier wants it bad, and Brock wants it bad. So when two fighters want to fight each other as bad as these two do, I think it’s going to happen,” concluded Dana.