Given that Daniel Cormier appeared to be excited about the possibility of fighting Brock Lesnar at heavyweight next it’s somewhat of a surprise that DC is now going to be fighting ‘The Black Beast’ Derrick Lewis instead on less than a months notice at UFC 230 on November 3rd in New York City.
Cormier has now spoken out about the switch in opponent and revealed that the offer was too good to refuse.
“I didn’t think I was going to fight on this card, but the deal I got was so good,” Cormier told ESPN. “There was no way I could say no, honestly. Especially with a guy like Derrick, who is not known for the best cardio. I’ve got to start fast and hope I can push harder than him, even with a short camp.”
Cormier went on to reveal that he may only have one fight left in him after that – and it might not be Brock Lesnar after all.
“Counting the Lewis fight, I think I’m down to two fights left,” Cormier said. “Maybe this will be a blessing in disguise, the fact that I don’t have a crazy, long fight camp to beat myself down. That may prolong it for me, but right now, I think I have this one and maybe one more. I can still fight in March and hit my retirement date. The one opponent that would matter to me most is Jones, because he’s beaten me twice.
”The one that would mean more financially would be Lesnar,” Cormier added. “I think I would always pick the one that means more, but my wife might have something to say about that.”
DC also revealed that he wouldn’t have been willing to fight former champion Stipe Miocic again on such short notice, but that Lewis made sense, even if he only has a few weeks to prepare.
“I would not have accepted a rematch against StipeMiocic on short notice, he’s too good under these circumstances. I’m not saying Derrick isn’t good, but Stipe is capable of beating me in different ways. He does different things well. I think in this fight, Derrick has to knock me out to win.
”Usually, if a guy only has one path to victory, I do pretty well,” Cormier concluded. “Yes, I will admit the opponent factored into this.”
