Daniel Cormier is in a confident mood ahead of his trilogy fight against heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 252.
Cormier previously knocked out Miocic in one round to capture the heavyweight strap back in 2018. He made one defence of the belt before losing in a rematch to Miocic more than a year later. The elite-level wrestler has previously spoken about the errors he made in his second fight with Miocic and remains confident of rectifying them, getting the win, and retiring at the top of the sport.
Cormier reflected on his defeat to Miocic on episode one of UFC Embedded, he said.
“The last fight was a good fight. I started well and he made adjustments and got the victory. But, by no means do I look at that fight and think there are areas I can’t fix.”
The 41-year-old then went on to explain how he will mix in his Olympic level wrestling with striking to get the job done on August 15.
“I plan to use more of my wrestling, I’ve worked a lifetime to acquire these skills, and I kind of went away from that fight. Does that mean I am going to eliminate or avoid striking? No way. That was a very competitive fight. So, by no means can I not stand and fight Stipe Miocic for 25 minutes. The smarter way to get my hand raised is to use all my tools.”
Cormier notes Miocic will be in shape and confident but that won’t stop ‘DC’ from imposing his will on his opponent for as long as the fight lasts.
“I expect a very tough, I expect Stipe to be in great shape,” Cormier said. “I expect him to believe that he is going to go out and win. The reality is I am going to smash him. I’m going to win this fight, I’m going to do my thing like I’ve done so many times and get my hand raised.” (Transcribed by BJPENN.com)
Do you think Daniel Cormier will “smash” Stipe Miocic at UFC 252?