Cormier’s Retirement May Wait Due To Back Injury

UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier wants one more fight before he retires, but it seems a back injury is keeping him from walking away in March.

”I f**ked my back up at UFC 230,” Cormier said to MMAWeekly. “It hasn’t recovered as fast as I hoped it would.”

Cormier suffered a back injury prior to his heavyweight title defense against Derrick Lewis in November, which came from a sneeze. That injury, coupled with the most intense schedule Cormier has had in three years, forced the champion to take a break.

“I have to take some time off. I had to take some time to try and make myself healthy because my schedule was so heavy last year. Three fights, three five round training camps, very heavy training camps. Last year was three championship fights, I did ‘The Ultimate Fighter’, I did all my commentary duties, I took that high school wrestling job in the middle of the year. It’s just a heavy, heavy year and I just need some time to get myself back in order.”

“You think you’re better but then you’re not and when you’re not better, you’re really not better,” Cormier told MMAWeekly. “You feel fine but when it goes out you’re on the floor crawling. It’s a weird thing.”

”I had to take nine months to try and get myself reset,” Cormier said of his 2015 break. If he takes that length of a break, it would place him back for the Summer and potentially making a fight against former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar a lot easier.

Initial Report: MMAWeekly