Daniel Cormier says it was a business decision that prevented him from fighting Brock Lesnar.
In 2018, Cormier knocked out Stipe Miocic to become the UFC heavyweight champion. It was the crowning moment of his MMA career, as Cormier had finally won a title outside of the shadow of Jon Jones. And it nearly became an even bigger moment for Cormier, because after the bout, former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar entered the ring and shoved Cormier, setting up a superfight between the two.
Ultimately,
that fight never came to fruition, and instead, Cormier defended his title against Derrick Lewis, and speaking with fans during a recent Q&A video posted to his YouTube channel, Cormier explained why.
“Man, I wanted that so bad,” Cormier said. “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 get 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?’
“‘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.’
“‘I was like, ‘Shit, OK, Brock.’
“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, [because] 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.”
And while an actual fight between Lesnar and Cormier would have likely favored Cormier heavily, “DC” did allow that when they had their brief in-cage interaction, he was shocked at how strong Lesnar was.
“He pushed me,” Cormier said. “He was strong. I tried to push him back, because I thought he pushed me soft, but he didn’t even move. I was like, I’m trying not to push too hard, and he didn’t even move. It was crazy.”
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FINAL THOUGHTS
DC would have demolished Brock Lesnar. And on the one hand, I’m glad it didn’t happen because that would have been a sham of a fight, but on the other hand, it would have been kinda fun. Alas.
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