Daniel Cormier recently explained the sole reason why he and Brock Lesnar did not end up locking horns.
The former UFC double champ had a heated faceoff with Lesnar in 2018 after “DC” dethroned Stipe Miocic in Round 1 by knockout at UFC 226 to capture the heavyweight throne. However, in the years to come, a potential superfight with Lesnar never materialised, as the latter opted to re-sign with the WWE.
After winning the heavyweight title, Daniel Cormier successfully defended it against Derrick Lewis in 2018, before losing the belt to Stipe Miocic in 2019 in a rematch. He failed to reclaim the title in their trilogy bout at UFC 252, after which Cormier decided to hang up the gloves.
Daniel Cormier on why he and Brock Lesnar did not fight under the UFC’s banner
During a recent Q&A session, Daniel Cormier confessed that he wanted the Brock Lesnar fight desperately but in the end, it never materialized. Yet Cormier is happy with how Lesnar has “done well for himself.” He said:
“Man, I wanted that so bad. I was about to get paid [a lot]. You know Brock Lesnar, I know him because we both wrestled in junior college in the same year, and he wrestled at Minnesota the same year I was at Oklahoma State. I was at my daughter’s gymnastics [event], and I got a random number on my phone. And I go, ‘Hello, who is this?’ ‘It’s Brock.’ I say, ‘What’s up, Brock? What the f*ck are you calling me for?’ He goes: ‘I hear you’re fighting that big white boy.’ I said, ‘Stipe?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’
He goes, ‘You knock him out, it’s going to be Christmas early for your family because we’re going to fight.’ And ‘I was like, ‘Sh*t, OK, Brock.’”
Cormier added:
”And then, even at UFC 200, he called me and goes, he literally sent me a message and said, ‘Merry Christmas, DC. I’m on UFC 200.’ I was like, ‘Yes.’ Every time Brock fought, it was over a million pay-per-views. It didn’t happen because the WWE gave him too much money, and he made the right choice. You talk about a man that money follows; it’s Brock Lesnar. He’s done really well for himself. I’m proud of him.”
Check out Daniel Cormier’s comments below:
Cormier vs. Lesnar could have generated record numbers, but it turned out to be one of those blockbuster bouts the UFC failed to make. Cormier was game to fight the former UFC heavyweight champ and WWE legend, and “DC” believes it would have been the “safest” fight he could have had.
