Daniel Cormier knows why Stipe Miocic is reluctant to fight him.

Cormier and Miocic have fought twice before where they first met at UFC 226. There, “DC” knocked out Miocic in the first round to become the heavyweight champ. They had their rematch at UFC 241 where Cormier arguably won the first three rounds before Miocic earned a fourth-round TKO win to reclaim his heavyweight belt.

Since the event, many have wondered when the trilogy will be but Miocic’s team has said they want to fight someone new. For Cormier, he says the heavyweight champion doesn’t want to fight him because he knows he’d lose.

“I think right now he is being a fireman which is way more important. That is way more important and that is what he should be worried about,” Cormier said on DC & Helwani. “But, you know, he doesn’t want to fight, maybe he doesn’t want to talk about it. I mean I bashed him upside his head for a good 20 minutes you know what I’m saying? I wouldn’t want to fight me either.

“What if you can’t punch me in the stomach next time? Then what is he going to do? So, it would be very difficult to think about us fighting again when he understands that when I’m healthy and I correct this little bit of a problem here he’s going to have a lot of trouble,” he continued. “But, he’s doing the right thing worrying about the virus, I get it. He’s a service worker, that’s his job at this time and I applaud that. But, when it’s time to get back to the fight business you’ve got to play the fight game and he doesn’t necessarily play the fight game.”

Currently, there is no date set for Daniel Cormier vs. Stipe Miocic 3 as the COVID-19 pandemic remains the champ’s main focus. But, DC has said if this drags out until the fall he will most likely retire and never get the trilogy bout.

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This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 4/6/2020.