WWE or the Trilogy: Daniel Cormier Announces His Next Move

Last time out, at UFC 241 on 17 August, Daniel Cormier lost in the fourth round of his sequel bout with Stipe Miocic. Cormier, now 40-years-old, lost his UFC heavyweight title after a getting rocked by a right straight, which was followed by his American compatriot raining down punches until the referee stepped in to end the fight.

In the running to the massive event, there were many rumours flying around that Cormier may retire as a UFC champion, settle some unfinished business with Jon ‘Bones’ Jones, or perhaps follow Brock Lesnar to the WWE. Lesnar, who was present at Cormier’s initial victory over Miocic on 7 July 2018, was the target for ‘DC’ for many months, but the ‘Beast Incarnate’ opted to return to pro wrestling.

With Lesnar back in the WWE and Cormier being a well-known, die-hard fan of the organization, it seemed like the natural next step for the UFC champ. Fanning the flames of the rumors, Triple-H met with Cormier on camera at the ESPY Awards, outright inviting him to the company.

But alas, a colossal fight between Cormier and Lesnar wasn’t to be in the squared circle, with DC deciding to give Miocic the chance to win back his belt. Of course, Miocic took this opportunity with both hands, so, sans titles and 40 years old, everyone awaited Cormier’s decision on his next step.

Cormier to keep fighting

Over a month after Micoic impressively came back from three rounds of being dominated to win via TKO, Cormier has decided that his immediate future lies in the octagon. There’s undoubtedly an offer on the table from the WWE, and there would be an incredible amount of interest in another fight with Jon Jones, but Cormier wants to try to end on a high with the title back around his waist.

In his announcement, Cormier stated that he wants to take on Miocic once again, concluding a trilogy hopefully as the UFC heavyweight champion once again. Wanting to get to the golden gates of retirement fairly quickly, Cormier outlined UFC 245 on 14 December as the opportune event to have the fight.

After dominating Miocic in a first-round triumph in 2018 and failing to finish the 6’4’’ striker most recently, a third bout will be very intriguing. Coming into the first fight, Miocic was favoured but lost. In the second fight, Cormier was favored but lost. For the upcoming trilogy bout, there’s no doubt that experts will be split when it comes to picking the favorite.

There is, however, already a bump in the road for Cormier’s roadmap. Stipe Miocic has revealed that it’s very unlikely that he’ll be able to compete before the year is up. The reigning champion’s agent has revealed that in the fallout of UFC 241, Miocic found that he was suffering from an eye injury.

As a result, the hefty American underwent a procedure on his retina, and so, he has to wait until he can see out of both eyes again before defending the belt. As Miocic has been photographed for his Twitter account as out-and-about and in daylight without an eye patch, it’s safe to assume that the surgery went well and he is coming along the route to recovery well.

So, perhaps Cormier’s grand UFC career will conclude at UFC 245 with one of the hardest-to-call, high-profile fights in a long time: Miocic vs Cormier III.

Perhaps it’ll be DC in the WWE in 2020.