Shortly after Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White announced that Brock Lesnar had informed him of his retirement from mixed martial arts (MMA), the booking of a championship rematch between Heavyweight king Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic surfaced.
According to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, the plans are to stage the do-over at an upcoming pay-per-view (PPV) event on August 17, 2019 in Anaheim, California. Both fighters are on board, all that is left to do is iron out the details.
“I’m ready,” Miocic told ESPN. “I’ve been ready. And I’m going to take back what’s mine.”
“DC” initially knocked out Miocic in the very first round at UFC 226 last July (see it here). It didn’t take long for Stipe to lobby for a rematch despite the one-sided loss. Cormier, meanwhile, advised Stipe to look elsewhere for a bout, as he proceeded to defend his 265-pound belt against Derrick Lewis at UFC 230.
Since then, Cormier has been on the sidelines hoping for Lesnar to sign on the dotted line. And since that will no longer come to light, it seems “DC” is ready to prove that his win over Stipe was no fluke.
For Miocic, it will be his first fight since getting dropped by the former UFC champ-champ, as he refused to fight anyone else until “DC” stopped “ducking” him.
Early predictions?