UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier has stated that he plans on walking away from the sport when he turns 40 years old on Mar. 20. Former champion Stipe Miocic doesn’t want to see “DC” retire as the heavyweight champion and called his shot on Twitter earlier this morning.
.@dc_mma March 20 is coming up quick. Let’s settle this and get this fight on the books before you blow the candles out on that cake.
— Stipe Miocic (@stipemiocic) January 14, 2019
Stipe Miocic (18-3) hasn’t fought since he lost his heavyweight title to Cormier at UFC 226 in July. The Ohio native’s six-fight win streak was put to a halt as Cormier cashed as a +205 underdog (bet $100 to win $205) knocking out the former champion in the first round.
Prior to that setback, Miocic had successfully defended the heavyweight title three times defeating Alistair Overeem, Junior Dos Santos and Francis Ngannou. The 36-year-old has been calling for a rematch ever since the loss and now it may be getting closer to a reality.
Daniel Cormier (22-1-NC) was slated to face Brock Lesnar at an undetermined date following his historic title win at UFC 226. Currently there still isn’t a date or location set for that potential title fight and much of the talk surrounding a potential return for Lesnar has died down.
The 39-year-old is currently riding a eight-fight unbeaten streak, including a “no contest” against Jon Jones at UFC 214, where “Bones” tested positive for the banned substance turinabol following a pre-fight drug test.
There are only two PPVs prior to Mar. 20: UFC 234 which takes place in Melbourne, Australia on Feb. 2 and UFC 235 which takes place in Las Vegas on Mar. 2. It’s more likely a potential matchup would take place at UFC 235 being in the U.S., however that card already has two title fights slated with Jon Jones facing Anthony Smith for the light heavyweight title and Tyron Woodley defending his welterweight title against Kamaru Usman in the co-main event.
It could be possible a matchup would take place on ESPN, however the first UFC on ESPN card already has Cormier’s teammate Cain Velasquez fighting Francis Ngannou in the main event on Feb. 17 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Do you think Stipe Miocic will get his desired rematch before Daniel Cormier retires?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 1/14/2019.