Daniel Cormier Says Stipe Miocic Owes Him Rubber Match, Calls on Champ to “do The Right Thing”

The expectation has been that Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier will throw down in a rubber match later this year. That said, it doesn’t sound like Miocic’s completely on board with the idea. Well, following UFC Raleigh on Saturday, Cormier outlined why the heavyweight champ owes him a third fight.

Cormier calls on Miocic to “do the right thing”

If you’re a big MMA fan, you know that Cormier ended Miocic’s first reign as champion in 2018 by knocking him out at UFC 226. Miocic held out for a rematch, and after Brock Lesnar’s Octagon return never materialized, Cormier agreed to fight him again last August. In that bout, however, Miocic reclaimed the heavyweight crown by stopping “DC” in round four.

Well, since both men hold wins over each other, and because both men are two of the greatest heavyweights in history, a third fight makes sense right? So much so, the 40-year-old Cormier is putting off retirement so he can face Miocic again.

But, to date, Miocic hasn’t gone out of his way to call for a third fight with Cormier. In recent months, Miocic has expressed an interest in fighting boxing champ Tyson Fury. He’s also argued that his win over Cormier was pretty decisive and his management has also talked about other opponents for Miocic.

During the post-fight show on ESPN, Cormier had this to say about the above.

“I don’t understand that. I fought him and I really didn’t have to. You know what I’m saying? I was going to fight (Brock) Lesnar and then they said ‘DC’, Lesnar’s not fighting, who do you want next’? I said Stipe because he deserves it. I didn’t have to fight him. I could have left him just being a sore loser for more than a year. They gave me that option and I fought him, I ran it back; I think it’s only right that he runs it back. That’s how I feel. But if he’s going to run away that’s fine.”

“That was three months after the fight,” said Cormier, after Michael Bisping noted that he fought Derrick Lewis before the rematch with Miocic. “By the time Stipe is able to fight we’ll be looking at 12 months after the fight and nothing gone on, right? So, that will be two years, 24 months, two fights with just me. So I think he should run it back, it’s right to run it back and ultimately, he’s not really going to have a choice in the matter, because if it’s the fight to make, you know the UFC makes the fights to make.”

Is Cormier right?

It’s kind of hard to argue with Cormier here no? After all, he did agree to face Miocic again on account of his run as champ. When you consider what Cormier has accomplished his amazing career, you could certainly argue he deserves the same treatment.

The other piece to this is how the second fight unfolded. While Miocic scored a memorable, fourth round stoppage, a lot of people had Cormier ahead until then. So, chances are not everyone’s sold that Miocic can get by Cormier for a second time.