The champ plans on retiring by March of 2019 and doesn’t yet know who he wants that final opponent to be.
“Counting the Lewis fight, I think I’m down to two fights left,” Cormier said to ESPN. “Maybe this will be a blessing in disguise, the fact that I don’t have a crazy, long fight camp to beat myself down. That may prolong it for me, but right now, I think I have this one and maybe one more. I can still fight in March and hit my retirement date. The one opponent that would matter to me most is Jones, because he’s beaten me twice. The one that would mean more financially would be Lesnar. I think I would always pick the one that means more, but my wife might have something to say about that.”
Cormier and Jones have met twice before at UFC 182 and UFC 214, while Cormier and Lesnar have never faced off inside of the Octagon.
DC wasn’t planning on fighting at UFC 230, but the champion admits the offer from the UFC was to good to resist.
“I didn’t think I was going to fight on this card, but the deal I got was so good,” Cormier said. “There was no way I could say no, honestly. Especially with a guy like Derrick, who is not known for the best cardio. I’ve got to start fast and hope I can push harder than him, even with a short camp.”
UFC 230 takes place on Saturday, November 3 from Madison Square Garden in New York, New York with Daniel Cormier and Derrick Lewis headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
