Former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier has one fight left in him prior to retirement, and recently, he reiterated that it would come against Stipe Miocic.
Cormier (22-2, 1NC), commented on his status during an Instagram live session that also featured welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. Usman is anticipated to face Jorge Masvidal at International Fight Week in Las Vegas this July.
“Look, I know we’re in a crazy time right now with the world and with the way things are and it’s very up in the air but I think for me with the way things are going and the discussions that we had heading into the fight, into all this, the way that the discussions in terms of the fight were going, where I am going to fight this guy for my last fight, it’s going to be as ideal for me as I could ever hope for,” Cormier said (h/t MMA Fighting). “It’s gonna be beautiful.”
Then came the big hint. “I know people like getting scoops, and I think if I’m guessing, I think the way things are falling you and I may be spending more time together than most people believe,” Cormier told Usman, before adding “Obviously we can’t say a date and time yet but it is looking like you and I shall and will be sharing a party and I think that’s going to be a good thing.”
Cormier has previously dismissed a trilogy fight with Jon Jones. DC relinquished his 205lb title in 2018 ahead of Jones’ return to action at UFC 232. At the time, he remained the UFC heavyweight champion, until a second fight with Stipe Miocic in August saw him stopped in the fourth round. The pair had first met a year earlier, with Cormier finishing Miocic within a round to claim the title.
In between, he defended the belt against Derrick Lewis. Now 41, Cormier is past the date he originally intended to be retired by, as he has long suggested that age 40 would see him wind things down. However, age, injury, and circumstance extended that.
Cormier has also become a popular part of the UFC broadcast booth over the last few years. A role he’ll likely continue in once his fighting career wraps up.
