Stipe Miocic Won’t Fight Daniel Cormier During Pandemic

Stipe Miocic plans on fighting Daniel Cormier — just not during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The UFC heavyweight champion is expected to defend his title against Cormier in a trilogy fight in what will be the latter’s final foray in mixed martial arts. It was initially expected to take place in the summer, but will now likely go forward later in the year.

And while the UFC is on course to resume its fight schedule on May 9 with UFC 249, Miocic won’t be fighting anytime soon. That’s because he simply won’t have the best preparation, especially with his gym Strong Style MMA being closed.

“There’s no way,” Miocic told theScore’s James Lynch. “I can’t get a full camp in, so there’s no reason to fight.

“… It’s tough because I have a lot of things going on in my world – my daughter, make sure she’s OK – going to work. I’m just trying to do the best that I can.”

Should things subside and his gym reopens, Miocic does expect to compete at least once in 2020. However, the part-time firefighter says things are too uncertain at the moment before he can commit to anything.

“Hopefully it gets better,” Miocic added. “I think it’s gonna get better.”

Miocic defeated Cormier via fourth-round TKO in their UFC 241 rematch in August to regain the heavyweight title.

When do you think we’ll see the Miocic vs. Cormier trilogy?