Former UFC dual-champion Daniel Cormier admits he should have hung up his gloves earlier than he did.
Cormier (22-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) retired in 2020 after back-to-back heavyweight title losses to Stipe Miocic. The former NCAA Division I All-American was one of few UFC fighters to not only win two titles simultaneously, but successfully defend both.
After knocking out Miocic at UFC 226 to become double-champ, Cormier successfully defended his belt with a submission of Derrick Lewis at UFC 230. That’s when Cormier would have rather walked away, but instead, he explains how he was lured into two more title fights with Miocic.
“Listen to not only your body – because your body is going to tell you first,” Cormier said on the WOLFpak podcast. “Your mind will actually tell you. You know when it’s time. Not everybody gets what Khabib got. Khabib literally got a fairytale. Him and Georges St-Pierre got to leave on top. Not everybody gets that. But listen to what’s available, the signs, everything that’s pinging at your mind. When you don’t love to train no more, you’re probably done.
“When you don’t love the competition or look forward to it anymore, you’re probably done. Honestly, I didn’t need to fight that last fight against Stipe, the last two. I didn’t need to. I just wanted to fight and I wasn’t ready to let go. There was way too much money at the time – the money got way too good. But we did a training camp in my garage because they shut down AKA. I should’ve recognized it then and listened to everything.”
Khabib Nurmagomedov (29-0 MMA, 13-0 UFC) retired as an undefeated UFC lightweight champion after submitting Justin Gaethje for his third title defense at UFC 254 in October 2020. Meanwhile, former UFC welterweight champion St-Pierre (26-2 MMA, 20-2 UFC) hung up his gloves after returning from a four-year layoff to dethrone Michael Bisping and become middleweight champion at UFC 217 in November 2017.
