Daniel Cormier, a UFC light heavyweight champ recently defend his title against Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 220 and won the fight via second-round TKO finish. Last week UFC announced a super fight between champs Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier that will headline UFC 226 on July 7 in Las Vegas.
After initially turning down the request, Cormier explained it wasn’t until after he had a talk with teammate Cain Velasquez and got his blessing that he decided to move forward with the fight, which includes a stint as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) leading up to the event.
If Cormier is able to steal the moment in his upcoming fight, he believes he deserves to be in the running for the greatest of all time title.
“I win this fight July 7, I’m the greatest fighter of all time,” Cormier said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “I’ve done something that was unheard of and that’s what I’ve always chased. I’ve always chased that. I chased it in the fights with [Jon] Jones because even regardless of the belts, I would always say, ‘Once I beat Jones, I will be the greatest fighter of all time.’ So I believe that once I do this, something that was so crazy that no one even has attempted it, I feel like I’m in the conversation for the best fighter of all time.”
Daniel Cormier heavily knows this fight could impact his legacy, and also admits that Stipe Miocic represents a ‘very tough’ candidate.
“When I think of a fight against Stipe, it’s a very tough fight and it’s a very difficult mountain for me to climb,” Cormier added. “But the reality was I’ve always talked about competition and legacy and when you think about legacy, if I’m able to pull this off, there’s no denying what I have meant to this sport and what I will leave behind whenever I’m done.”
“I’m trying to do something that’s unheard of,” Cormier concluded. “I know there’s been two-division champions, Randy Couture had the light heavyweight belt and the heavyweight belt, but he didn’t do it at the same time. Conor McGregor is the biggest star in mixed martial arts and he held two titles at one time and I’m about to actually do that too so he’s been on the cover of (the EA Sports UFC 3 video game) two years in a row, next year I go on the cover of EA Sports UFC.”
Heading to the fight, Stipe Miocic will look the fourth defense of his title, while Cormier will looking to win a title to become the second man in promotion to hold title in two different weight classes.
Do you think Daniel Cormier can sweep Stipe Miocic?
