Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier is getting back to his wrestling roots as he prepares to complete his “fantastic trilogy” against reigning 265-pound kingpin Stipe Miocic.
Probably because “DC” was stopped via strikes in their UFC 241 rematch.
“I’ve got to get back to wrestling,” Cormier, 41, told Kerry McCoy with USA Wrestling (transcribed by Damon Martin). “I’ve got to get back to guys like you Kerry, who are actually going to be able to tell me that ain’t enough. I have Bob [Cook] and my coaches do but I need to have that. Like Jamill [Kelly], when I was making 205 [pounds], Jamill would come and do the weight cuts with me. It wasn’t enough, he’d say that ain’t enough. Shawn Bunch does my weight cuts with me and if he thinks ‘DC, you gotta get back in there a little bit before we go home, you’ve got to do that.’”
It’s understandable why Cormier (22-2, 1 NC) would rely on his hands the way he did, having already put Stipe on the floor with a perfectly-placed punch when they first went to war in the UFC 226 main event back in summer 2018.
“I’m going to fight Stipe Miocic one last time and then I’m going to be done with this whole thing,” Cormier said. “I love this sport. I’m a competitive guy. Getting away from competition is going to be tough but I know that to win the heavyweight championship again is the right way to go out. Stipe and I have a fantastic trilogy. He’s a wrestler himself. Very respectful guy. Firefighter. Tough guy. But I need to be the champion as I’m done with this thing.”
No word yet on when 37 year-old Miocic (19-3) will be ready following “weird” vision problems. In addition, the coronavirus pandemic has turned the 2020 event schedule upside down, so we may not have any sort of resolution until later this year.