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“I really want him to fight with Stipe Miocic rematch and finish his career. This is what I want.”
It’s been a tough month for former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier.
Just one week after losing the heavyweight title to Stipe Miocic at UFC 241, the former Olympian tragically lost his stepfather to cancer.
Teammate and friend Khabib Nurmagomedov, who trains with Cormier at San Jose’s American Kickboxing Academy (AKA), says everyone at AKA was affected by ‘DC’s’ loss.
“When DC loses, it was a very sad moment for us,” Nurmagomedov said on Friday during the UFC 242 media conference call (h/t Damon Martin of MMA Fighting). “Same time, Cain Velasquez lost his mother and after a couple of days, DC lost his father. It was a little bit hard week for all AKA team but it is what it is. When God wants something, nobody can change this. Losing the belt is nothing when you lose your father or mother. When you lose belt, of course DC is sad but when you lose you father, it’s completely different.
“We feel bad for him but we know how DC is a competitor, how DC is strong. I want to wish him good luck. We just talked with him a couple of days ago. We talked with him about my fight, we talk about his fight, about his father, but I just try to give him good energy. Right now he’s having a hard time in his life but time changes everything. I know he’s going to be good.”
Although Cormier was originally planning to retire earlier this year, Nurmagomedov would like to see the former UFC two-division champ avenge his TKO loss to Miocic and then retire.
“I really want him to fight with Stipe Miocic rematch and finish his career,” Nurmagomedov said. “This is what I want.
“I don’t know about his plan but honestly I want him to fight maybe February or March, fight with him last fight and then finish.”
Nurmagomedov, the reigning lightweight champion, is expected to take on interim titleholder Dustin Poirier in a headlining title unification bout at UFC 242. The PPV extravaganza is scheduled to take place next Saturday, Sept. 7 at du Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.