Daniel Cormier Admits He ‘Can’t Beat’ Cain Velasquez

Leading up to – and especially after – Daniel Cormier’s one-sided win over Volkan Oezdemir in the co-main event of last weekend’s UFC 220 from Boston, Massachusetts, there was a decent amount of talk about Cormier moving back up to his original division of heavyweight. UFC president Dana White, who claims he ‘doesn’t make fights’ […]

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Leading up to – and especially after – Daniel Cormier’s one-sided win over Volkan Oezdemir in the co-main event of last weekend’s UFC 220 from Boston, Massachusetts, there was a decent amount of talk about Cormier moving back up to his original division of heavyweight.

UFC president Dana White, who claims he ‘doesn’t make fights’ right after fights ended, teased a potential match-up between Cormier and record-breaking heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic, who beat formerly surging hype train Francis Ngannou at UFC 220. Cormier quickly shot that hype down, however, instead pointing at his good friend and longtime American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) teammate Cain Velasquez as the man who should face the dominant Miocic next.

Former champion Velasquez has been out of action since a 2016 TKO of Travis Browne at UFC 200, and countless injuries have rendered him unable to build any sort of consistency. It’s an unfortunate situation for a man many were billing as potentially the greatest heavyweight of all-time, but the 35-year-old Velasquez apparently isn’t done yet after teasing his return earlier this year.

On this week’s edition of UFC Tonight (quotes via Bloody Elbow), Cormier offered the stance he still wouldn’t favor anyone against a healthy Velasquez. Based on his extensive training history with the former champ, he’ll be staying at his more suitable weight class of 205 pounds because he ‘can’t beat’ Velasquez:

“You know, I still wouldn’t favor anybody against Cain Velasquez but obviously I’m a bit biased. But man, you got to look at those big dudes and know that that’s really not my weight class. I’m not as big. I mean, I know my face looks really fat right now compared to last weekend but those are heavyweights and heavyweights, those are the lands of the giants, man and i’m going to steer clear of those boys. And if somebody beats Cain Velasquez, just know that they’re probably going to beat me too because I can’t beat Cain *laughs*.”

Loyalty and comradery aside, Cormier doesn’t have too many legit contenders left in the shallow light heavyweight landscape outside of a rematch with top-ranked Alexander Gustafsson, whom he beat in a razor-thin slugfest at UFC 192 that was one of 2015’s best fights, making a move back to heavyweight an exciting prospect.

But with only a few fights left in him and a target date for his retirement, the soon-to-be 39-year-old isn’t going to change anything big heading into what could be the final year of his MMA career, so expect to potentially see Cormier vs. Gustafsson and Miocic vs. Velasquez in the near future.

The former should be another match to remember; let’s just hope Velasquez can make it to the octagon for the latter.

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UFC Rankings Update: Stipe Miocic Climbs Pound-For-Pound List

The UFC delivered a-hitting pay-per-view event in the form of last weekend’s (Sat., January 20, 2018) UFC 220 from TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. While the overall card wasn’t full of title picture-changing rankings implications on the whole, the top two fights were title fights where the incumbent champs putting on dominant performances to bolster […]

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The UFC delivered a-hitting pay-per-view event in the form of last weekend’s (Sat., January 20, 2018) UFC 220 from TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.

While the overall card wasn’t full of title picture-changing rankings implications on the whole, the top two fights were title fights where the incumbent champs putting on dominant performances to bolster their already lofty spots among the top pound-for-pound fighters in the UFC.

Heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic secured the record for most consecutive title defenses in the weight class’s history with a dominant five-round destruction of formerly touted hype train Francis Ngannou, earning a one-spot rise up the pound-for-pound list to No. 6. Some feel he may deserve to be higher on the list, however.

Not to be outdone, light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier also rose a spot after his own dominant second-round TKO over another majorly hyped contender in Volkan Oezdemir.

He and Miocic’s move pushed bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw down one spot to No.7 at pound-for-pound. The rest of UFC 220 didn’t feature a ton of movement, but rising bantamweight contender Rob Font did rise three spots to No. 11 after an exciting stoppage of Thomas Almeida, who fell to No. 12 for his latest loss.

Check out the full updated rankings from the UFC’s official website here:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Demetrious Johnson
2 Conor McGregor
3 Georges St-Pierre
4 Daniel Cormier +1
4 Max Holloway
6 Stipe Miocic +1
7 TJ Dillashaw -1
8 Tyron Woodley
9 Cris Cyborg
10 Tony Ferguson
11 Cody Garbrandt
12 Robert Whittaker
13 Amanda Nunes
14 Khabib Nurmagomedov
15 Joanna Jedrzejczyk

FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
1 Joseph Benavidez
2 Henry Cejudo
3 Ray Borg
4 Jussier Formiga
5 Sergio Pettis
6 Wilson Reis
7 Brandon Moreno
8 Ben Nguyen
9 Dustin Ortiz +1
10 John Moraga -1
11 Matheus Nicolau +1
11 Tim Elliott *NR
13 Alexandre Pantoja -2
14 Deiveson Figueiredo
15 Magomed Bibulatov -2

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: TJ Dillashaw
1 Cody Garbrandt
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Jimmie Rivera
5 Marlon Moraes
6 John Lineker
7 Bryan Caraway
8 John Dodson
9 Aljamain Sterling
10 Pedro Munhoz +1
11 Rob Font +3
12 Thomas Almeida -2
13 Eddie Wineland -1
14 Brett Johns -1
15 Matthew Lopez

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Max Holloway
1 Jose Aldo
2 Frankie Edgar
3 Brian Ortega
4 Josh Emmett
5 Cub Swanson
6 Ricardo Lamas
7 Chan Sung Jung
8 Jeremy Stephens
9 Darren Elkins
10 Yair Rodriguez
11 Renato Moicano
12 Dennis Bermudez -1
13 Dooho Choi
14 Myles Jury
15 Mirsad Bektic

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Conor McGregor
1 Tony Ferguson (Interim Champion)
2 Khabib Nurmagomedov
3 Eddie Alvarez
4 Edson Barboza
5 Dustin Poirier +1
6 Justin Gaethje -1
7 Kevin Lee
8 Nate Diaz
9 Michael Chiesa
10 Al Iaquinta
11 Beneil Dariush
12 James Vick +1
13 Francisco Trinaldo -1
13 Anthony Pettis +1
15 Evan Dunham

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Tyron Woodley
1 Stephen Thompson
2 Rafael Dos Anjos
3 Colby Covington
4 Robbie Lawler
5 Demian Maia
6 Jorge Masvidal
7 Darren Till
8 Neil Magny
9 Kamaru Usman
10 Santiago Ponzinibbio
11 Donald Cerrone
12 Carlos Condit
13 Gunnar Nelson
14 Dong Hyun Kim
15 Yancy Medeiros

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Robert Whittaker
1 Yoel Romero
2 Luke Rockhold
3 Jacare Souza
4 Georges St-Pierre
5 Chris Weidman
6 Kelvin Gastelum
7 Michael Bisping
8 Derek Brunson
9 David Branch +1
10 Uriah Hall +1
11 Vitor Belfort +1
12 Krzysztof Jotko +1
13 Paulo Costa +2
14 Lyoto Machida
15 Brad Tavares *NR

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Alexander Gustafsson
2 Glover Teixeira +1
2 Volkan Oezdemir
4 Jimi Manuwa
5 Ovince Saint Preux
6 Mauricio Rua
7 Misha Cirkunov
8 Corey Anderson
8 Ilir Latifi +1
10 Patrick Cummins
11 Jan Blachowicz +1
12 Gadzhimurad Antigulov +2
13 Tyson Pedro
14 Gian Villante *NR
15 Jared Cannonier

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Stipe Miocic
1 Francis Ngannou
2 Alistair Overeem
3 Fabricio Werdum
4 Cain Velasquez
5 Mark Hunt
6 Derrick Lewis
7 Alexander Volkov
8 Marcin Tybura
9 Curtis Blaydes
10 Stefan Struve
11 Aleksei Oleinik
12 Andrei Arlovski
13 Junior Albini
14 Travis Browne
15 Tim Johnson

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2 Jessica Andrade
3 Claudia Gadelha
4 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
5 Tecia Torres
6 Carla Esparza
7 Michelle Waterson
8 Cynthia Calvillo
9 Felice Herrig
10 Alexa Grasso
11 Randa Markos
12 Cortney Casey
13 Joanne Calderwood
14 Maryna Moroz
15 Tatiana Suarez

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Nicco Montano
1 Sijara Eubanks
2 Lauren Murphy
3 Alexis Davis
4 Roxanne Modafferi
5 Barb Honchak
6 Liz Carmouche
7 Jessica-Rose Clark
8 Montana De La Rosa
9 Mara Romero Borella
10 Jessica Eye
11 Rachael Ostovich
12 Paige VanZant
13 Shana Dobson
14 Gillian Robertson
15 Kalindra Faria

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1 Valentina Shevchenko
2 Holly Holm
3 Julianna Pena
4 Raquel Pennington
5 Germaine de Randamie
6 Ketlen Vieira
7 Cat Zingano
8 Sara McMann
9 Ronda Rousey
10 Marion Reneau
11 Katlyn Chookagian
12 Leslie Smith
13 Bethe Correia -1
14 Sarah Moras
15 Aspen Ladd

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Daniel Cormier Reveals Target Date For UFC Return

The countdown clock on UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier’s career has begun. Cormier has already stated that he has 14 months until he hangs up his gloves and ends his pro-MMA career. It’s clear that he doesn’t want to waste much time before getting back into the Octagon. As seen in the co-main event […]

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The countdown clock on UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier’s career has begun.

Cormier has already stated that he has 14 months until he hangs up his gloves and ends his pro-MMA career. It’s clear that he doesn’t want to waste much time before getting back into the Octagon.

As seen in the co-main event of Saturday’s UFC 220 PPV event at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, Cormier was able to score a TKO victory over title contender Volkan Oezdemir.

Despite the fact that Cormier suffered ligament damage to his wrist and a minor thumb fracture during the fight, he’d like to forgo surgery. Thus, he plans on heal naturally before returning to the Octagon this summer.

“I don’t like to do surgery, so I’m going to try to put off the surgery, and we’ll see in a couple weeks,” Cormier told MMAjunkie. “If it’s starting to heal, I’m not going to do the surgery. I’m going to do (platelet-rich plasma therapy) again.”

By looking at the UFC’s pay-per-view schedule, this year’s International Fight Week will feature UFC 226, which takes place July 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. This is a time of year that Cormier has historically fought during and could be perfect for his return.

“A more realistic timeframe for another fight would be in the summer,” he said. “Maybe July – International Fight Week, somewhere in that time frame. That would give me time to rest and recover from the fight. Just a long, hard year, and I’m going to have time for my injuries to heal. That would give me time to fight again maybe at the end of the year.”

“If I could fight at the end of the year, and maybe sneak another one in in February, I could get three more in before I’m done,” Cormier said.

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Daniel Cormier Reveals Planned Date For MMA Retirement

UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier is nearing 40 years old, and despite dominating a much younger challenger in Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 220 on Saturday, he has already planned his retirement date. Cormier (20-1) has been the best 205-pound fighter outside of Jon Jones for some time now, and with ‘Bones’ facing yet another unceremonious suspension […]

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UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier is nearing 40 years old, and despite dominating a much younger challenger in Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 220 on Saturday, he has already planned his retirement date.

Cormier (20-1) has been the best 205-pound fighter outside of Jon Jones for some time now, and with ‘Bones’ facing yet another unceremonious suspension following their rematch at UFC 214, he will hold that distinction for the foreseeable future. DC’s status as champion was reinforced once again after a second-round TKO shut down the Oezdemir hype train in Boston last week.

As he approaches the big 4-0, Cormier revealed on today’s episode of The MMA Hour that he has set a very specific date for his retirement from MMA:

“Come March, I will have 12 months, at max, left. I’m going to be done by March 20, 2019. I won’t be fighting again.”

“I’m done, I’m going to done at 40,” Cormier said. “I won’t be back. There won’t be jumping around or ‘I’m done until I get the right type of fight.’ It’ll be over. I’m not going to be doing this anymore. I’ve said time and time again that I’ve lived a great life in sports, I’ve loved every moment of it. My family has revolved around sports. Not only my family, Selena and the kids, but also my mom and my dad. I’ve been the center of the athletic universe for my family for a really, really long time, and it’s time for that to be little Daniel and Marquita. It’s time for them to be the center of our athletic competition, and I just want to be one of those crazy dads that gets to yell on the sideline and just go crazy and brag about his kids.”

The light heavyweight division will certainly undergo quite the transformation once Cormier retires, and with no sign of Jones anytime soon, the 205-pound weight class will be in dire need of high-level replacements.

In fact, it’s almost unfathomable to think of a light heavyweight division without either man.

For his part, Cormier knows when to bow out; the man began his career in earnest in 2009, and ever since then, he’s collected belts wherever he’s fought. Now, Cormier has his broadcasting gig with FOX Sports to fall back on, and his occasional commentary at UFC events.

Who will be the man to replace DC once he’s retired? Assuming Jones is still off the radar, it could be some time before the UFC truly answers that question.

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Daniel Cormier Addresses Potential Third Fight With Jon Jones

UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier returned in a big way this past weekend following his most recent loss. Before UFC 220, the last time that fight fans saw Cormier compete was he lost to former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones by third-round TKO in the main event of UFC 214 on July 29 […]

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UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier returned in a big way this past weekend following his most recent loss.

Before UFC 220, the last time that fight fans saw Cormier compete was he lost to former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones by third-round TKO in the main event of UFC 214 on July 29 in Anaheim, California on PPV (pay-per-view). It was revealed after the fight that Jones tested positive for Turinabol.

As a result of that failed drug test, Jones was stripped of the UFC light heavyweight title and removed from the official UFC rankings. The promotion then reinstated Cormier as the champion.

As seen in the co-main event of Saturday’s UFC 220 PPV event at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, Cormier was able to score a TKO victory over title contender Volkan Oezdemir.

As soon as the fight was over, Cormier could not help but point back to his rivalry with Jones.

“I’ve been through a lot,” Cormier told Joe Rogan during his Octagon interview. “I go through a lot of stuff, man, and it’s because of my greatest rival. But it feels good to get back in here and get a victory.”

When asked about a potential third fight with Jones, Cormier is not too keen on the idea as Jones is facing a potential four-year suspension for his latest failed drug test.

“I’m just past it right now,” Cormier said during his post-fight press conference (transcript via MMAjunkie). “Until he’s able to do what we want to do, and that’s fight, I’m kind of past it.”

“I’m kind of a bit of this spot when it comes to Jones. Competitively, all I want to do is fight him again. But at some point, it’s just like, ‘Man, is it ever going to be just a fight without nothing else?’”

“I don’t know if I can put myself through that again. I’ve done everything right,” he said. “And I’ve just been dragged down by this guy constantly. So I’m not thinking about it. I’m going to do my thing for right now.”

Jones is staying positive as he expects to bounce back strong after his second PED-related infraction in the UFC. Thus, he tweeted out the following on Sunday morning:

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Five Best Fights To Make After UFC 220

UFC 220 was a hard lesson learned for all involved, from fans to fighters and UFC brass themselves. Two extremely hyped contenders got beat down and demoralized, while the incumbent champions didn’t get the respect they felt they deserved. In hindsight, Volkan Oezdemir was not ready for Daniel Cormier, and the same can be said […]

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UFC 220 was a hard lesson learned for all involved, from fans to fighters and UFC brass themselves.

Two extremely hyped contenders got beat down and demoralized, while the incumbent champions didn’t get the respect they felt they deserved.

In hindsight, Volkan Oezdemir was not ready for Daniel Cormier, and the same can be said for Francis Ngannou with Stipe Miocic.

Even so, there are so many excellent fights to make after Saturday night, so without further adieu, let’s have a look:

Photo: Michael Adamucci for USA TODAY Sports

5. Francis Ngannou vs. Derrick Lewis

Ngannou fell short in his title shot against Stipe Miocic, but given his age and experience level, it’s fair to say he will certainly compete for the title again.

Derrick Lewis and Ngannou have traded barbs ever since “The Black Beast” beat Travis Browne and his subsequent loss to Mark Hunt. Ngannou has trolled Lewis online, saying a fight with Lewis would not bring him closer to a title shot. Well now that he’s had his shot, this is the perfect fight to make for both men, provided Lewis emerges victorious against Marcin Tybura next month.

The heavyweight division is indeed bereft of top-level contenders, and a win here for either man could catapult them back into contention.

And not for nothing, but a fight between the two would absolutely satisfy the “Just Bleed” crowd. Both of these men are harbingers of unbridled violence.

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