Daniel Cormier explains why he won’t fight Stipe Miocic again

UFC heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier has stated he wants to retire by his 40th birthday, but it appears he will stick around longer. However, even with his extended career, he does not appear interested in fighting Stipe Miocic again.

Cormier and Miocic fought at UFC 226 for the heavyweight title, in a fight that gave Cormier — then the light heavyweight champ — the chance to become a two-division champ. Ultimately, that is exactly what happened as Cormier knocked Miocic out in the first round.

Since the fight, Cormier defended his heavyweight title against Derrick Lewis. Miocic, meanwhile, has been clamoring for a rematch with the new champ.

“It wasn’t like he was wiping the floor with me,” Miocic said recently. “I just knew I was the better fighter in there. And let me tell you something, next time it happens, next time we fight, you’ll see a different fighter. A whole new me. A lot has changed. If the roles were reversed, I’d do the same. I’d give him the shot back. I wouldn’t sit around and say, ‘No no, we’re good, I’m gonna fight someone else.’ No, man.”

Despite these comments from Miocic, and Cormier’s initial willingness to give him a rematch, it doesn’t sound like we’ll get a do-over between them.

Daniel Cormier effectively closed the book on this rivalry on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon.

“Do you guys wanna know why I’m not fighting [Stipe Miocic] again?,” Cormier posted on Twitter.

“Reason 1: He’s being entitled, why have I fought since and he hasn’t. He lost the fight, is he still the champ,” he continued in a followup Tweet. “Reason 2: I’m hurt. Reason 3: How do I do it better? I beat him in a round last time.”

The heavyweight champ also seemingly called out Brock Lesnar following the tweets over Miocic.

“Fat neck!” he tweeted.

Ultimately, if Cormier does indeed fight again, it is apparent he wants to fight Lesnar and no one else. Unfortunately for Miocic, that means he will have to try and regain his belt once Cormier retires.

Do you think Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic should fight again?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 2/5/2019.