Daniel Cormier returning to UFC for one more fight against Miocic

Daniel Cormier has confirmed that he’s planning on returning to the Octagon for one more fight.

During an appearance on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show today, Cormier said that he’ll return to face Stipe Miocic one more time. “I’m gonna fight this guy again,” Cormier told Helwani. “My intention is to fight him in the right way.”

Cormier said Miocic has to be the opponent and no one else matters to him. Cormier also noted that — win or lose — this will be his last fight.

Cormier told Helwani that there’s no date attached to the potential fight, but he’s ready to go. Cormier said the sooner the better for him and he’d be willing to face Miocic at UFC 245 in Las Vegas on December 14 if it becomes available.

Dana White told Barstool Sports last week that the UFC planned to book the trilogy fight between Miocic and Cormier after Miocic recovers from “bumps and bangs” he suffered in their last matchup.

“I’m not in a place right now where I’m chasing, I’m waiting, I’m begging. I’m not doing any of that stuff — I don’t need to,” Cormier said during his interview with Helwani. “I hope he fights me, run it back like I ran it back for him. I didn’t necessarily have to. I could have took that win last July and said that was beautiful and fought somebody else.”

Miocic won the UFC heavyweight title by defeating Cormier by TKO in the fourth round at UFC 241 this August. Cormier was ahead on the judges’ scorecards heading into that round. The fight was a rematch from UFC 226, where Cormier had knocked out Miocic in the first round to become heavyweight champion.

Cormier told Helwani that he probably would have retired if he defeated Miocic at UFC 241. After the loss, Cormier said he was going to talk to his wife and they would make an educated decision about what’s next.