Daniel Cormier says that fighting in the UFC as a heavyweight is not viable despite some wanting him to move up.
Cormier successfully defended his UFC light heavyweight title over the weekend with a TKO win over Volkan Oezdemir. Now 20-1, the 38-year-old has proven himself to be the class of the light heavyweight division in the UFC. That led to Dana White saying he wanted Cormier to move up to heavyweight to face Stipe Miocic.
Dana White tells me he’s interested in making Miocic vs. Cormier for he heavyweight title. He spoke very briefly to Cormier about it in the back just now. Cormier injured his thumb, was non-committal about anything in the future for now.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) January 21, 2018
But if you ask Cormier, he doesn’t think heavyweight is right for him.
In an interview with UFC on FOX, Cormier said he can’t beat heavyweight Cain Velasquez, who trains at American Kickboxing Academy with him.
Daniel Cormier addresses the final 420 days of his career on @UFCTonight…
…is he interesting in a heavyweight title fight?
…is he still pushing for a Jon Jones fight?
…is he going to lose his dressing room to @Twooodley?@DC_MMA has the answers! https://t.co/bXqp8uwYTS— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) January 25, 2018
“You got to look at those big dudes and know that that’s really not my weight class. I’m not as big. I know my face looks really fat right now compared to last weekend, but those are heavyweights. And heavyweights, those are the lands of the giants.I’m going to steer clear of those boys. And if somebody beats Cain Velasquez, just know that they’re probably going to beat me too because I can’t beat Cain.”
Cormier has shown in the past that he can compete with and beat heavyweights. He is the former Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix champion and beat guys like Big Foot Silva and Josh Barnett. He also has beaten the likes of Big Country Nelson and Frank Mir in the UFC.
There is no doubt that Cormier could beat heavyweights, but it sounds like that’s not an avenue he’s willing to explore again.
