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Miocic, ahead of UFC 252 – ‘MIOCIC VS. CORMIER 3’: “The minute I’m not having fun and it acts like a job, I’m out. Right now, I’m good. I’m happy.”
Daniel Cormier isn’t the only fighter with retirement on his mind ahead of UFC 252.
Reigning UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, who takes on Cormier in a trilogy bout this Saturday to determine the heavyweight GOAT, has been thinking about retirement since his first fight under the UFC banner in 2011.
But, although retirement is on his mind, the part-time firefighter says he won’t hang up the gloves until he no longer enjoys competing at the championship level.
“I think about retirement after every fight,” Miocic said during the UFC 252 pre-fight press conference, per MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin. “Since my first fight at UFC 136, I think about retirement.”
“I love what I do,” Miocic said. “The minute I’m not having fun and it acts like a job, I’m out. Right now, I’m good. I’m happy. I had a great camp, to the best of my abilities, especially being quarantined with this pandemic going on but honestly I feel great.
“We’ll see how long I can go. I don’t know about 40, god bless D.C. but I don’t know about that. A little bit longer.”
Cormier plans on retiring, win or lose, after UFC 252 but head coach Javier Mendez feels the 41-year-old still has plenty more miles left on the clock.
“He’s not performing like a 41-year-old. He’s in shape. His mind is sharp, his reflexes are sharp. He’s fighting like the best heavyweight there is.
“If you’re performing at that level, who’s to say you should retire? Only he can decide if he wants to retire. His abilities can say he can do it longer. I don’t know how many fights he could do, but he can definitely do it now.”
UFC 252: Miocic vs. Cormier III takes place this Saturday, Aug. 15 at the UFC APEX Center in Las Vegas.