UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will defend his title against Stipe Miocic at the UFC 241 pay-per-view event Aug. 17 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, the promotion announced Saturday. Cormier (22-1), a former NCAA All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State, knocked out Miocic (18-3) in the first round at UFC 226 in July 2018 to claim the heavyweight belt and become a two-division champion as he also held the light heavyweight belt at the time. Cormier had pushed for a fight against Brock Lesnar as his last bout before he planned to retire prior to his 40th birthday (March 20). The fight talks simmered as Cormier wasn’t healthy due to injuries and ended when UFC president Dana White announced Lesnar retired last month. Cormier hasn’t fought since submitting Derek Lewis by a rear-naked choke in 2:14 at UFC 230 last November, and Miocic hasn’t fought since his loss to Cormier. Before losing to Cormier, the 36-year-old Miocic defended the title a UFC-record three straight times.<doc-sep>With Brock Lesnar mysteriously vanishing from the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight title picture, reigning 265-pound kingpin, Daniel Cormier, will move forward with a Stipe Miocic rematch at the upcoming UFC 241 pay-per-view (PPV) event this August in Anaheim. And he’ll do it as the -150 favorite. That’s according to our fiscal friends over at www.BetOnline.ag, who pegged Miocic as the +130 underdog. That’s a pretty close line when you consider how easily “DC” finished their first fight, which took place at UFC 226 last July. Miocic (18-3) has been sidelined ever since. Not only was he waiting for Cormier (22-1, 1 NC) to finish his business with Lesnar, the full-time firefighter was also caring for his newborn daughter. The champion, meanwhile, took a short-notice title defense against Derrick Lewis at UFC 230 back in November. No question these odds will fluctuate as we get closer to fight night, but based on what’s available, who’s ready to lay down some coin?<doc-sep>Now that Brock Lesnar has been removed from the heavyweight title conversation, thanks to the restrictive new deal UFC signed with ESPN+, reigning 265-pound kingpin, Daniel Cormier, will move on to rematch former champion, Stipe Miocic, at UFC 241 in August. It was a contest Miocic lobbied for just as soon as he went down in flames at UFC 226 last July. Partly because losing sucks, but mostly because he was salty that UFC bumped him for the returning Lesnar, then Derrick Lewis when UFC 230 was in shambles. That’s what happens when your fight isn’t close and you make no money. “I did not like the approach he took,” Cormier told Ariel Helwani (via MMA News). “I just think he’s so good, even if he’d fought over the course of the year, he still would be in this same position. So I don’t feel I have to be nice to him anymore. The whole time I said he was a bit entitled. These are conversations we had with the company. He was just as happy as I was. So to make it seem like I was doing something wrong after I was the one who won the fight, I just felt like it was unfair. I’m not wronging this guy. I’m doing exactly what we were told to do after our first fight.” Cormier has done everything the promotion has asked him to do since the first day he crossed over from the now-defunct ranks of Strikeforce. In fact, promotion president, Dana White, has often called him the greatest fighter to ever compete in UFC. If anyone earned a retirement payday against Lesnar, it’s “DC.” But like all things that seem too good to be true, Cormier will instead have to settle for reruns. Prior to hanging up the gloves at the end of the year, the former light heavyweight champion hopes to silence Miocic, then get one back from longtime rival, Jon Jones. And if you thought he was done being nice to Stipe ...<doc-sep>
Ahead of their rematch at UFC 241 later this year, Daniel Cormier has said he is done being nice to Stipe Miocic after the approach he took to securing a second fight with the UFC heavyweight champion. Cormier was rumoured to be defending his title against Brock Lesnar instead of Miocic in August, and that was a fight that was in the works ever since Lesnar pushed Cormier in the cage after he knocked out Miocic in their first fight to win the title. However, Lesnar’s return to the UFC was shut down when it was reported he wanted a flat fee for a fight with Cormier. So instead Miocic will get the fight he has been holding out for since losing to Cormier in July 2018, something ‘DC’ isn’t a fan of. “I did not like the approach he took,” Cormier said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. “I just think he’s so good, even if he’d fought over the course of the year, he still would be in this same position. So I don’t feel I have to be nice to him anymore. The whole time I said he was a bit entitled. (Transcription via MMA News) “These are conversations we had with the company. He was just as happy as I was. So to make it seem like I was doing something wrong after I was the one who won the fight, I just felt like it was unfair. I’m not wronging this guy. I’m doing exactly what we were told to do after our first fight.” UFC 241 takes place on August 17th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. It will be Cormier’s first fight since having back surgery in December of last year.