Daniel Cormier says Stipe Miocic needs to fight again
Stipe Miocic was a dominant heavyweight champion. He had the most UFC heavyweight title defenses but then ran into Daniel Cormier at UFC 226. Cormier, who was the light heavyweight champion at the time was looking to become the next champ-champ, which he ultimately did.
Cormier knocked out Miocic in the first round and has since gone on to defend his title at UFC 230 against Derrick Lewis. Miocic meanwhile has yet to fight and wants a rematch against Cormier. But, with a potential Brock Lesnar fight looming, Cormier has now urged Miocic to fight again.
“This is crazy shit right here,” Cormier said on The MMA Hour on Monday (transcript via MMA Fighting). “Stipe hasn’t fought in so long that Jon Jones will have fought twice since he last got to the Octagon. When’s the last time that’s happened?
“Jones will have had two fights and at the rate that he’s fighting, maybe three by the time Stipe fights again if he waits and fights me in the summer. That’s crazy, because Jones doesn’t fight very often. That’s crazy.
“I just don’t like that I’ve fought again and he still hasn’t fought.”
While Cormier has gotten a rematch before against Jones, he understands where Miocic is coming from. But, Cormier worked his way back to the top, instead of just asking for a rematch, which Miocic is doing. Cormier knows if Miocic goes out there and beats the top contender, there is no question he will fight him again.
“I understand where he’s coming from because I’ve been there with Jones twice and I’m like, ‘God, I know I can beat him if I can just get another opportunity to do it. I know I can beat him. And it burns at you and it eats at you, especially the way that he lost the fight. I get it,” Cormier said. “But I don’t have to really owe anything. I’ve said that before, I’ve said he deserves it. I’ve said that. He deserves a rematch if I don’t get to fight Brock. I’ve always stood by that.
“But you can’t just go, ‘Well, you owe it to me.’ I don’t want to sit here and talk bad about Stipe because I like Stipe,” he continued. I think he’s a good guy. He’s a fantastic father, he’s a pillar of the community. He’s a great fighter. I think he’s great. But you can’t sit there and say, ‘He owes me.’
“When I lost to Jones the first time, I thought, ‘Man, if I can just get another opportunity.’ I didn’t just sit and wait,” Cormier continued. “I went right back to work at trying to re-earn the opportunity if they weren’t going to give it to me. I wasn’t the champion obviously, so the circumstances were different, but I right away scheduled a fight to try to get my way back to that fight and it’s almost like he hasn’t really taken that approach. That’s one of the things where I’m kind of like, what’s going on? Why hasn’t he fought yet still?”
