When Daniel Cormier became the second double champion in UFC history in July 2018, he also created history for himself.
He had the undisputed light heavyweight title that year when he defeated Stipe Miocic to win the heavyweight championship.
Four months later, “DC” defeated Derrick Lewis by submission to defend the heavyweight title. And in a recent interview on MMA Hour, when he reunited with former ESPN co-host Ariel Helwani, Cormier claims he should have ended his career at that point.
“Me fighting Stipe Miocic after my back surgery those two times, that wasn’t the same fight. I couldn’t wrestle. I should’ve stopped in 2018. I should’ve retired after (the) Derrick Lewis (fight), especially when I had back surgery,” he explained.
“I was so severely limited, it was crazy. With my wrestling workouts, I went from wrestling 30, 40-minute rounds and matches to doing ropes and jump roping and just doing wrestling movements without the physical contact of the wrestling. It was crazy. I couldn’t wrestle like I wanted to.”
Cormier, who was 39 then, planned to retire in March 2019, the month of his 40th birthday. He had to delay it, though, due to his back surgery and instead took two additional fights versus Miocic, both of which he lost.
In 2020, he retired at age 41 with a 22-3 record.