UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier was ready to retire last March, when he hit 40 years of age. Those plans, however, were postponed, when he sustained a back injury during UFC 230 title fight against Derrick Lewis in November 2018, which kept him in the sidelines for an extended period.
“DC” was also looking at a fight against Brock Lesnar, which also fell through eventually. He is now slated for a rematch against Stipe Miocic for UFC 241, a fight he anticipates to be his last.
“I always said that I was gonna fight [until I was 40] which would have been March,” Cormier told TMZ Sports (transcript via MMA Weekly). “I couldn’t make that one, so if I hold true to what I was saying, then this would be the final one.
“I don’t anticipate fighting much past this.”
Even with a knockout victory during their first fight at UFC 226 almost a year ago, Cormier is not expecting this rematch to be an easy one.
“I truly believe (Miocic) is going to be a better version of himself,” he said. “I don’t think for a second that he’s going to make the same mistakes he did last time.
“I think it’ll be a much more difficult fight.”
UFC 241 takes place on August 17th in Anaheim, California. Scheduled to co-headline the event is a welterweight bout between Anthony Pettis and Nate Diaz.