Daniel Cormier willing to put off retirement under right circumstances

UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier has long planned on retiring in March of 2019, when he turns 40 years old. Yet as that date rapidly approaches, there’s been question as to whether he might delay his retirement to accommodate big ticket fights with names like Jon Jones, Brock Lesnar and Stipe Miocic.

That’s what UFC President Dana White is hoping, and from the sounds of it, he might just get his wish.

Speaking to UFC.com recently, Daniel Cormier divulged that he’s willing to delay his retirement so long as he still feels good competing.

“I think that was probably the greatest athletic year I’ve ever had,” said Cormier, referencing his epic 2018 run. “Not only from the success I had, but just everything – my life, my body holding up, my ability to train, my team in order – everything was good from top to bottom. It was a really, really good year for me. . .

“There’s nothing left to prove,” he added. “But I’m not a guy that has been fighting just to prove things. I fight because I love to compete. It’s never been that I have to prove that I’m the best. That was never the reason why I fought to begin with. So if the desire is there to compete, then I’ll go and I’ll fight. But if it’s not, then I won’t. If I get ready to start getting into a training camp and I just don’t feel it, I won’t do it. That’s the beauty of being where I am today and being so at ease with my career and with my place and my standing in the history of the sport. If I get into a training camp, and I just don’t have this in me no more, I don’t have the desire to train as hard as I want to train, I’ll just stop. I fight because I still love to compete, and I still want to compete, that’s why I’m gonna fight.”

Do you think Daniel Cormier will keep fighting past his planned March retirement?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 1/31/2019.