Daniel Cormier can’t stop thinking about the huge UFC fight with Brock Lesnar that never happened. On Club Shay Shay, the former champ explained why the 2018 matchup fell apart and why he was certain he would have beaten Lesnar. Their heated clash at UFC 226 got fans excited, but the fight never came together.
WWE’s Big Money
Cormier said WWE pulled Lesnar back with a massive deal.
“The WWE got him. The WWE took him back,” Cormier said. “It was that was my golden goose, man. We had that moment in the ring. I pushed him. He pushed me. WWE paid him to go back. They were paying Brock like six to seven million a year. Maybe ten. ‘Brock, you can go fight DC and lose, or you can come back to WWE.’”
Easy Win
Cormier was confident he would have won.
“Shay, I was beating Brock Lesnar,” he said. “It was one of the safest fights I could have had. That’s the truth. It’s just the truth.”
He pointed to Lesnar’s struggles when punched, especially in his loss to Cain Velasquez, as proof.
Cormier had a clear strategy.
“I like Brock too. He’s a great guy. But I watched what Cain Velasquez did to him. I watched how he would react to getting punched. And I was gonna punch him. He would have to take me down to win the fight, and I can wrestle. If he shoots on me, I’mma make it so hard for him to get that takedown that by the time he gets it, he’s exhausted. Now I’m up to my feet, then you’re done,” Cormier said.
Cormier referenced Lesnar’s 2010 loss.
“With Cain, he took Cain down,” Cormier said. “Cain got up, started kneeing him in his face. I saw Brock recently. He still has that scar in his eye from when Cain kneed him in the face. Yep. Still got that big scar in his eye.”
Cormier believed he could do the same.
That moment in 2018 when Brock Lesnar stormed into the Octagon and got called out by UFC Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier while still holding the WWE Universal Title.
VINCE MCMAHON WAS PISSED 😭
— FADE (@FadeAwayMedia) July 2, 2025
Daniel Cormier started MMA in 2009 after a strong wrestling career with two Olympic appearances. He went 9-0 regionally before joining Strikeforce, winning the 2012 Heavyweight Grand Prix. In the UFC, starting in 2013, he went 13-3 with one no-contest, beating Stipe Miocic (2018), Derrick Lewis (2018), and Anthony Johnson (2015, 2017). He held light heavyweight and heavyweight titles, becoming a rare UFC double champion. Losses came to Jon Jones (2015, 2017, one overturned) and Miocic (2019, 2020). His MMA record is 22-3. Cormier retired in 2020 and now commentates for UFC.
Brock Lesnar began MMA in 2007 after an NCAA wrestling title. He went 1-0 regionally before joining the UFC in 2008. His UFC record is 4-3 with one no-contest, with wins over Randy Couture (2008), Shane Carwin (2010), and Mark Hunt (2016, later overturned due to a failed drug test). He won the heavyweight title against Couture but lost it to Velasquez in 2010. Losses also came to Alistair Overeem (2011) and Frank Mir (2008). His MMA record is 5-3. Lesnar returned to WWE after 2016 and remains active there.
At UFC 226 in July 2018, Cormier knocked out Stipe Miocic to win the heavyweight title. Lesnar, in attendance, entered the octagon, shoved Cormier, and called out the division, setting up a potential fight. WWE’s contract and USADA testing rules stopped it. By 2019, Dana White confirmed Lesnar’s MMA retirement.
