Stipe Miocic: Losing To Daniel Cormier ‘Hurts Me Every Day’

Former heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic is confident of exacting revenge when he faces Daniel Cormier in their rematch.

Miocic lost his heavyweight title to Cormier after suffering a first-round knockout at UFC 226 last July.

Cormier was then expected to defend his title against WWE superstar Brock Lesnar in a super fight early this year. However, as the months went by, nothing came to fruition. Miocic, meanwhile, would regularly call out “DC” for a rematch.

With Lesnar now officially retired from MMA, Miocic got his wish as he will get a chance to regain his title at UFC 241 which takes place August 17 in Anaheim, California.

While the defeat to Cormier was somewhat offset by the birth of his daughter, Miocic is still hurting every day from what was just the third loss of his career.

“I can tell you losing to D.C. hurts me every day,” Miocic told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s why I’m an athlete. It drives me. But my daughter took my mind off it. And I know now it was definitely a one-time deal.

“I’m going to get this guy back. I think about it more in a good way now — ‘what if I do this?,’ and ‘I can do this … .’”

Different Outcome

Many in the MMA world felt Miocic deserved an immediate rematch, especially considering he was the most successful heavyweight champion in promotional history.

Others, like Cormier, felt the Ohio native was acting entitled. For his part, Miocic doesn’t care if people think he was a crybaby.

He is simply focused on getting a different outcome after what he called a “lapse of judgement” in the first fight.

“I was tired, but he caught me right in the sweet spot. I know I’m a better fighter than him. … He’s done a lot of great things and has beaten me and a lot of tough guys. It’ll be a tough fight, but this time it’ll be a different outcome.”

How do you see the rematch panning out?