Daniel Cormier proudly hung two belts on his shoulder after dethroning reigning heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic this past Saturday at UFC 226 Pay-Per-View event. With the win, now Cormier joined Conor McGregor as the only UFC fighters to hold title in two divisions simultaneously.
‘DC’ is armed to dictate the terms for the remainder of his MMA career. After the win, Cormier called out WWE champion and former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, who stepped in Octagon and shoves him. At UFC 226 presser, UFC president also confirms that’s the fight to make, but it wouldn’t happen soon, as Lesnar still has to serve remaining USADA suspension before he clears to fight.
Cormier appeared on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on Monday, where he discussed his next move and plans to defend his light heavyweight title before Lesnar showdown: (Via MMAMania)
“It (retirement) doesn’t get pushed. The Lesnar fight gets pushed to Superbowl weekend or something. That fight gets pushed and I knock one out at Light Heavyweight before then. So that’s how you maneuver around that,” said Cormier. “Brock Lesnar will get his, Brock Lesnar will be the next Heavyweight I fight. Brock Lesnar is not guaranteed to be my next fight.”
Surprisingly enough, Cormier noted that his next fight might not be against Lesnar due to his USADA hurdles so that he can cut down to 205 pound and defend his title with his choice of opponent a former champion Shogun Rua, who will square off against Anthony Smith at July 22’s UFC Hamburg.
"Brock Lesnar is not guaranteed to be my next fight." – Daniel Cormier to @arielhelwani.
Open to fighting Shogun Rua at light heavyweight first.
— Greg Rosenstein (@grosenstein) July 9, 2018
“You know what? That’s who I want to fight, if Shogun wins, I want to fight Shogun. That’s who I’m fighting. I will go fight Shogun because he is a legend, he’s a great guy. I will go fight Shogun and then I will fight Brock Lesnar because Jones isn’t going to be back, I don’t think. I am at peace with that,” he stated.
Shogun was one of the most impressive fighters in MMA during Pride’s heyday, and he continues that success into a UFC title win over Lyoto Machida back in 2010. Then he lost that title against Jon Jones, and since then he was riding on a rough patch. No doubt he is currently on a three-fight win streak, and a win over Anthony Smith gives him some limelight, but a winner of UFC 227’s Alexander Gustafsson vs. Volkan Oezdmir showdown should be considered a title fight against Cormier.
Cormier didn’t lay eggs when he meets Rua, as at UFC 226 presser ‘DC’ said he needs little time off to spend it with his family. Cormier said retirement is waiting on his 40th birthday, March 20, it seems he’ll have two more fights before hanging his gloves on the shelf for good.
Do you think at this stage of his career, Cormier should fight Rua?
