Daniel Cormier admits he botched his second bout with Stipe Miocic.
Back in Aug. 2019, Cormier put the UFC heavyweight title on the line against Miocic. This was the second bout between the two. In their first encounter back in July 2018, Cormier knocked out Miocic in the first round to capture the heavyweight gold. Miocic regained the title by stopping Cormier in the fourth round via TKO in their rematch.
Daniel Cormier Says He ‘Fumbled’ Stipe Miocic Rematch
Cormier spoke to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani and he discussed the mistakes he made in his second outing with Miocic (via MMAFighting).
“I think it’s more pronounced because I want to win so badly and I feel like I just fumbled so bad,” Cormier said on ESPN. “I fumbled really bad last time. I fumbled in a lot of ways. I was so distracted with everything going on in my life and I was so focused on coaching and all these other things that I kind of just fumbled. I fumbled bad and I wasn’t prepared as I needed to and I got tired. Like, I got tired. I can admit it. I got tired. He hit me with those shots in the end, he hurt me to the body and he hurt me to the head and I didn’t react because my body couldn’t react because I was so tired, and I will not allow that to happen again. If he ever finds a way to hurt me, I need to fight back like I did in every other instance in my entire life. I didn’t do that last time and it sits with me every single day.”
Cormier and Miocic will share the Octagon a third time on Aug. 15. The heavyweight title clash will headline UFC 252. Cormier has said that win or lose, this will be the last bout of his pro MMA career.
Cormier and Miocic have both been out of action since their rematch. “DC” had been waiting for Miocic’s recovery from an eye procedure. While UFC president Dana White said “DC” was offered a bout beforehand, Cormier decided that he’s just going to fight one more time and he wanted it to be against Miocic.
