The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Stipe Miocic calls out Cormier on Twitter
Ex-champion wants a rematch before title holder eyes retirement
Stipe Miocic lost the UFC heavyweight belt to Daniel Cormier last July.
Moments after that fight, he said, “Of course I want a rematch.”
Six months later, he’s been waiting and waiting and waiting some more for a chance to reclaim the title from Cormier.
On Jan. 14 Miocic went to Twitter to stoke the fire and called out Cormier, who said he’s ready to retire in March when he turns 40.
It was another tactic by the former champ to get the rematch he desperately wants. Miocic is 35, and it’s not the first time he politicked for a rematch with Cormier. His sole focus as a fighter is again becoming the heavyweight champion of the world.
Said Miocic, an Eastlake North graduate, in his Tweet: “@dc_ mma March 20 is coming up quick. Let’s settle this and get this fight on the books before you blow the candles out on that cake.”
March 20 is the date Cormier turns 40. After he defeated Miocic in stunning fashion with a firstround knockout in Las Vegas, “DC” said he was eyeing retirement as he turned 40.
UFC president Dana White said a Brock LesnarCormier title fight would be in the offing but that hasn’t happened. Lesnar has been serving a UFC suspension for failing a drug test and re-signed with the WWE.
A Lesnar-Cormier bout appears more unlikely with each passing day. White sounded excited
about that fight last summer, but his tone has changed.
“One of the things you guys know about me is, I don’t wait for anybody,” White said at MMAjunkie.com. “I’m not (expletive) waiting around for anybody. I’m rolling with the business. (Lesnar) doesn’t want to fight this year? It’s all good. It doesn’t matter who you are — how big you are, what your deal is. You don’t want to fight, do your thing. When you’re ready to fight, you come back and talk to me, and we’ll figure something out.”
Another possible opponent for Cormier is Jon Jones, who just won the light heavyweight title. Cormier and Jones have fought twice, and there’s no love lost between
the two. Jones won both fights, although the latter was changed to a no-contest when Jones failed a drug test.
Complicating any hopes of Cormier-Jones III is Jones is booked as the main event with Anthony Smith in a title bout March 2 in Las Vegas.
With Jones unavailable in the short-term, and if Lesnar’s situation remains in limbo, Miocic-Cormier II seems like a no-brainer.
Earlier this month, Cormier said this about the possibilities of his next title defense:
“If (Lesnar) doesn’t fight, then I’ll fight Stipe Miocic,” Cormier said on the MMA Hour. “I talked to the boss (White) the other day and he’s
talking to me about fights and Brock Lesnar and Jon Jones and everybody, and I said, ‘If Lesnar doesn’t go, Stipe has to be first.’
“He deserves it, and I’ve said it from the beginning. If it ain’t Brock, I want to fight Stipe Miocic and give him what’s rightfully his, a rematch for this title.”
Miocic is 18-3 and ranked the No. 1 heavyweight contender by UFC.com. He hasn’t fought since the loss to Cormier. Miocic is the only UFC heavyweight to defend the belt three consecutive times.
“I want (Cormier) and that’s it,” Mioicic recently told The News-Herald. “It’s all I care about. The rematch.”