Miocic says trilogy fight with Cormier ‘looking like summer’

Stipe Mioicic says his eye is healing well, and that’s good news for the UFC heavyweight champion’s eventual return to the octagon.

Miocic told TMZ Sports on March 10 the status of his injured eye is good. He injured the eye when Daniel Cormier poked him during their title fight last August.

It was a fight Miocic won with a fourth-round knockout to win back the UFC heavyweight belt.

Now it appears the Eastlake

North grad and Cleveland firefighter will be healthy enough to defend his belt against Cormier in what would be a trilogy. Miocic and Cormier split their first two fights. Cormier won by first-round KO in July 2018.

“Yeah man, looking like summer,” Miocic told TMZ. com while in New York promoting Fire Dept. Coffee.

Upon hearing the news from Miocic, Cormier responded on Twitter with a simple message:

“Thank you @stipemiocic !”

Miocic wouldn’t get into specifics about when the third fight between him and Cormier would take place. He did say a third fight between him and Cormier is “what the UFC wants.”

As for his eye injury, Miocic has been on the mend since defeating Cormier last August.

In November, Miocic told The News-Herald he had a small tear in his retina and that surgery repaired it.

“Eye is really good actually,” Miocic told TMZ.com. “It’s getting healed up. Getting better every day ... I still (see) some spots. That’s still there.”

His manager Jim Walter recently told ESPN.com there was no timetable for Miocic’s return to octagon to defend his belt.

Miocic (19-3) said in January he was cleared to begin light training. On March 10, Miocic said he had not begun sparring.

“Making my way in there slowly,” said Miocic. “Just trying to get into better shape, making sure my body, my eye feels good.”

Miocic is currently the No. 4-ranked pound-forpound fighter, according to UFC.com.

Cormier, the No. 1-ranked heavyweight who’s 22-1, is the No. 6 in the pound-forpound rankings.