On Monday, Daniel Cormier unleashed his frustration with the delays regarding his rubber match against UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic while hosting his most recent episode of “DC and Helwani,” calling it all nonsense.
On Tuesday, Miocic got his chance to respond while being interviewed by ESPN MMA’s Brett Okamoto. Okamoto showed Miocic a clip of a frustrated Cormier demanding Miocic “sign the contract.” As the interview wore on, Miocic was visibly annoyed and seriously irritated with his rival.
“Well, I didn’t know he was calling the shots,” Miocic said. “Wow.”
It seems the UFC heavyweight champion has been preoccupied with the global pandemic facing the world today and didn’t know he was on the clock to sign any contract when he can’t even train.
“I can’t really do anything because once again my state is shut down for another month. Who knows how long after that? … I literally can’t train. How am I gonna take a fight?”
Miocic went on to say he’s not on Cormier’s schedule when it comes to their rematch.
“I worked hard to get where I’m at, I’m not going to sit there and … get half my training in because the dude wants to fight me in August. He just wants to fight me so he can retire. Good for him. But I’m not on his schedule.”
Okamoto then played another clip for Miocic where Cormier says he let up in their previous fight because he was beating Miocic so bad he lost respect for him. But Miocic doesn’t seem to buy the former champ’s excuse for why he lost the fight.
“He let up? … I would never let up in a fight. That’s like the dumbest thing I ever heard. You’re that dumb you’re going to let up in a fight cuz you felt bad? Please. You’re in a fight dude. You never feel bad when you’re in a fight.”
You can watch the whole Miocic interview with Okamoto below.
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A Chance to Prove He’s the Better Fighter
It’s no secret that Cormier is looking to retire and believes this fight with Miocic will allow him to end his UFC career as heavyweight champion and solidify his claim to being one of the best MMA fighters of all time.
“I’m going to fight Stipe Miocic one last time and then I’m going to be done with this whole thing,” Cormier said last week to USA Wrestling. “I love this sport. I’m a competitive guy. Getting away from competition is going to be tough but I know that to win the heavyweight championship again is the right way to go out.”
Cormier believes he’s simply the better fighter at heavyweight than Miocic is and says he never should have lost that second fight.
You can watch Cormier’s entire plea below.
“Come on, Champ. Sign the contract. Let’s go. What are you doing? It’s nonsense.”
@dc_mma tells @arielhelwani he’s “a better fighter” than Stipe Miocic and wants to prove it with a trilogy fight in August.
Miocic Focused on Duties as First Responder
Miocic may be the reigning UFC heavyweight champion, but he’s also a firefighter in the state of Ohio. And when speaking with MMA Junkie last week he said he’s not worried about anything going on in the UFC right now.
“I’m not worried about any of that. Right now, I’m worried about what’s going on in the world. Fighting is not going away. It’s always going to be there. We’ve got to get rid of this thing that’s going on and make everyone feel safe again [to] be able to live a normal life.”
The global coronavirus situation may be affecting Cormier’s timeline for how he wants to retire from the UFC, but one can understand Miocic’s reluctance to “sign the contract” when he doesn’t have a way to train for the fight for the foreseeable future.
Cormier may just have to sit tight like the rest of the world and wait out the pandemic before signing any contracts.
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Twitter: @Kelsey_McCarson
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UFC’s Daniel Cormier Ripped by Rival: ‘You’re That Dumb’