Miocic says he offered to fight at UFC 230

Stipe Miocic is obviously not happy about Daniel Cormier’s next fight, and he’s not staying quiet about it.

The former UFC heavyweight champion posted a Twitter video in response to the UFC’s announcement on Oct. 9 that Cormier (21-1), the reigning heavyweight champ, is defending his belt against the No. 2 contender Derrick Lewis, and not him.

“Nine times out of 10, I beat (Cormier),” Miocic said in the video. “… It kills me inside because I’m a way better fighter than he is. I know it. Everyone else knows it, and I think he knows it too.”

Miocic (18-3 and the No. 1 contender) then told ESPN.com on Oct. 10 he contacted the UFC and offered to fight on the UFC 230 card to bolster the main event. Instead, on Oct. 9, the UFC announced Lewis-Cormier as the new UFC 230 main event.

“... I was never offered (Cormier),” Miocic told Stipe Miocic told ESPN.com he offered to fight at UFC 230 in November — but only against Daniel Cormier.

ESPN.com. “I would fight (Cormier) any time, anywhere. I look forward to getting my belt back.”

Miocic told The NewsHerald a month after his loss by first-round knockout to Cormier in July at UFC 226 in Las Vegas he and his team were interested in an immediate rematch, or not fighting at all.

“It’s DC, and that’s it,” said Miocic.

In response to Miocic’s video tweet on Oct. 9, Cormier tweeted, “Come on my guy don’t be thirsty!

We’re still good. You got next if Brock doesn’t make it.”

Cormier, who will be a big favorite vs. Lewis, is expected to fight former UFC champion and former WWE star Brock Lesnar sometime in 2019, but a date for that bout hasn’t been confirmed because Lesnar is still serving a UFC suspension for a failed PED test.

Miocic also revealed in a tweet he’s been in contact with Cormier recently about wanting a rematch but to no avail.

“I’ve been staying up all night with my new born daughter and I still offered to fight you nov 3 with ZERO camp weeks ago,” Miocic tweeted to @dcmma.

Then in an interesting twist, Lewis admitted Miocic deserved the shot vs. Cormier more than him.

“I don’t know why they don’t want to give it to Stipe. It’d been great for them to give it to Stipe than to me, but I appreciate them giving me the shot,” Lewis told TMZ Sports.

“I really believe that Stipe really deserves the shot, seeing as how he was the champion for a while, he defended that many times, and I guess dominant for a while. I don’t know why they gave it to me before they gave it to Stipe. Everyone else, whenever they lost their belt, they got a shot to win it back. I don’t know why they didn’t give it to Stipe, unless he wanted some time off.”

Attempts to contact Miocic by The NewsHerald were unsuccessful.

NEWS-HERALD FILE