Daniel Cormier no longer interested in return to heavyweight: They re all like Cain Velasquez

Get the Full StoryDaniel Cormier is no longer willing to entertain the possibility of a return to the heavyweight division. Just last month, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier was open to challenging the winner of UFC 220 s heavyweight title fight between Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou, but the former Olympian has had a change of heart.

After thinking things through Cormier, the former Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix champ, shut down the idea on WFAN s Outside the Cage podcast, claiming that the division has evolved too much and that many fighters are now on par with his teammate Cain Velasquez, a former two-time heavyweight champ.

It was a different time in the sport, Cormier said on Monday, per The Mac life s Oscar Willis. Those guys, they weren t as fast. They re big now, and fast. Before you guys that were big guys, but they were kind of lumbering. Now you got athletes. Like Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou they re athletes. They re all like Cain Velasquez. That s what made Cain Velasquez so great, right? Was that he was before his time. They re all like him now. So, those days are past.

After making his transition to the UFC in 2013, DC netted back-to-back wins over Frank Mir and Roy Nelson and was considered one of the top heavyweight contenders in the division. That s when the 38-year-old made the switch to light heavyweight, fearing a potential clash with American Kickboxing Academy sparring partner and friend Velasquez.

Velasquez is currently injured and DC can t wait to see his teammate back in action to potentially challenge the winner of Miocic vs. Ngannou.

I would love for that fight to happen, Cormier said. You know, Cain to fight one of those guys. It would be very difficult for him to just step back into a title shot being that he s been gone so long. But, enough fans ask for it? He ll do it. Dude loves to fight. He wants to fight, he s just been injured. But if he has one fight, he ll beat whoever it is and then he ll fight one of those guys. Which would be great; I d love it.

UFC 220 features both Miocic vs. Ngannou and Cormier vs. Oezdemir as the headlining and co-headlining bouts, and the PPV takes place this Saturday, Jan. 20 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.

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