Daniel Cormier wishes he retired on top like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Georges St-Pierre
Former UFC dual-champion Daniel Cormier admits he should have hung up his gloves earlier than he did.
Cormier (22-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) retired in 2020 after back-to-back heavyweight title losses to Stipe Miocic. The former NCAA Division I All-American was one of few UFC fighters to not only win two titles simultaneously, but successfully defend both.
After knocking out Miocic at UFC 226 to become double-champ, Cormier successfully defended his belt with a submission of Derrick Lewis at UFC 230. That's when Cormier would have rather walked away, but instead, he explains how he was lured into two more title fights with Miocic.
"Listen to not only your body – because your body is going to tell you first," Cormier said on the WOLFpak podcast. "Your mind will actually tell you. You know when it's time. Not everybody gets what Khabib got. Khabib literally got a fairytale. Him and Georges St-Pierre got to leave on top. Not everybody gets that. But listen to what's available, the signs, everything that's pinging at your mind. When you don't love to train no more, you're probably done.
"When you don't love the competition or look forward to it anymore, you're probably done. Honestly, I didn't need to fight that last fight against Stipe, the last two. I didn't need to. I just wanted to fight and I wasn't ready to let go. There was way too much money at the time – the money got way too good. But we did a training camp in my garage because they shut down AKA. I should've recognized it then and listened to everything."
Khabib Nurmagomedov (29-0 MMA, 13-0 UFC) retired as an undefeated UFC lightweight champion after submitting Justin Gaethje for his third title defense at UFC 254 in October 2020. Meanwhile, former UFC welterweight champion St-Pierre (26-2 MMA, 20-2 UFC) hung up his gloves after returning from a four-year layoff to dethrone Michael Bisping and become middleweight champion at UFC 217 in November 2017.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
17 minutes ago
- USA Today
Dana White explains why he's hesitant to put Jon Jones on UFC White House card
NEW ORLEANS – Dana White isn't so sure he'd feel comfortable booking Jon Jones on the promotion's highly anticipated card at the White House. With the event just shy of a year away after President Donald Trump's recent announcement, White admits it's too way too soon to matchmake the card. However, Jones repeatedly has mentioned the White House card being what could bring him out of retirement. White explained to reporters at Smoothie King Center on Saturday after UFC 318 that he has some hesitancy to oblige Jones' request. "It's not even about him winning the belt," White told MMA Junkie and other reporters. "You know how I felt about him. You know I can't risk putting him in big positions in a big spot and have something go wrong – especially the White House card." White's hesitance stems from Jones' long history of transgressions, one of which ruined the milestone UFC 200 that was supposed to be headlined by Jones vs. Daniel Cormier. Jones was flagged for an anti-doping violation during fight week, and the bout was canceled. Since Trump's impromptu announcement of a UFC card coinciding with the U.S.'s 250th anniversary on July 4, 2026, fighters have flocked to virtually raise their hands on social media for a spot on the card. From Jones to Conor McGregor to Nate Diaz, the working idea has caught the attention of many. Despite this, White said that, for now, his focus is simply on operational logistics. "I have other problems," White said. "I'm dealing with the logistics and all the things on figuring out how to make this thing happen. How do we want to do it? I'm going to fly out there in about 10 days, two weeks, and we're going to have all the renderings done. We'll sit down with (Trump) and go through the renderings and see what he wants to do and what he doesn't want to do."
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Max Holloway, Dustin Poirier can't believe UFC 318 Fight of the Night bonus wasn't theirs
Congratulations to Brendan Allen and Marvin Vettori, but there's no way the UFC 318 Fight of the Night bonus should've gone to them. At least that's how Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier feel about it. Holloway and Poirier put on a Fight of the Year candidate in Saturday night's main event at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Holloway beat Poirier by unanimous decision in their trilogy, which also served as "The Diamond's" retirement fight. While Holloway vs. Poirier 3 was full of action and big moments, including each man knocking the other down in the second round, an extra $50,000 went to Allen and Vettori instead. Allen came away with a three-round unanimous decision win over Vettori. Backstage after UFC 318 concluded, Holloway and Poirier found out together that they were snubbed for the bonus. Their reaction was caught on video (via X), with Holloway calling the UFC's decision "bullsh*t" and Poirier highlighting that "we knocked each other out in the same round." The moment Dustin and Max find out they didn't got FOTN bonus#UFC318 Holloway reiterated his disbelief to reporters during the UFC 318 post-fight news conference. "I hope you guys give sh*t to (Dana White)," Holloway said. "How the hell did we not get Fight of the Night, bro? What is he thinking, bro? C'mon, Dana." Holloway and Poirier concluded their rivalry with Poirier up 2-1 after "The Diamond" won the first two encounters in 2012 and 2019 before Holloway's victory Saturday night.
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
UFC 318 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Max Holloway's $42,000 tops card
NEW ORLEANS – Fighters from Saturday's UFC 318 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $289,500. The program, a comprehensive plan that includes outfitting requirements, media obligations and other items under the fighter code of conduct, replaces the previous payments made under the UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy. UFC 318 took place at Smoothie King Center in Louisiana. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+. The full UFC 318 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included: Max Holloway: $42,000 def. Dustin Poirier: $32,000 Paulo Costa: $11,000 def. Roman Kopylov: $6,000 Daniel Rodriguez: $11,000 def. Kevin Holland: $21,000 Patricio Freire: $4,000 def. Dan Ige: $16,000 Michael Johnson: $21,000 def. Daniel Zellhuber: $6,000 Vinicius Oliveira: $4,500 def. Kyler Phillips: $6,000 Brendan Allen: $16,000 def. Marvin Vettori: $16,000 Nikolay Veretennikov: $4,000 def. Francisco Prado: $4,500 Ateba Gautier: $4,000 def. Robert Valentin: $4,000 Islam Dulatov: $4,000 def. Adam Fugitt: $4,500 Jimmy Crute: $11,000 def. Marcin Prachnio: $11,000 Ryan Spann: $11,000 def. Lukasz Brzeski: $6,000 Brunno Ferreira: $6,000 def. Jackson McVey: $4,000 Carli Judice: $4,000 def. Nicolle Caliari: $4,000 Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program's payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Venum's multi-year sponsorship with the UFC, fighters are paid based on their total number of UFC bouts, as well as Zuffa-era WEC fights (January 2007 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2011 and later). Fighters with 1-3 bouts receive $4,000 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,500; 6-10 bouts get $6,000; 11-15 bouts earn $11,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $16,000; and 21 bouts and more get $21,000. Additionally, champions earn $42,000 while title challengers get $32,000. In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-30 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials. Full 2025 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts: Year-to-date total: $3,966,000 2024 total: $8,280,500 2023 total: $8,188,000 2022 total: $8,351,500 2021 total: $6,167,500 Program-to-date total: $34,983,000
