mma / News

Daniel Cormier Says He’s Not Ducking Stipe Miocic

October 18, 2018 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas

– Daniel Cormier appeared on The MMA Hour and discussed his fight with Derrick Lewis at UFC 230, plus more. Highlights are below per MMAjunkie:

On Stipe Miocic claiming that he’s ducking him: “It’s all about perception. So if you can create this idea that I ducked him, then okay, maybe you’ll get some people to rally and support you. And it’s worked. I have never seen Stipe Miocic have so much support in my whole entire career. I mean, people are like, ‘Why are you ducking Stipe?’ I put a picture up about this kid who signed a scholarship to go to college the other day, and I got a whole bunch of people going, ‘Why are you ducking Stipe?’ I’m like, I can’t duck the guy I just beat within one round three months ago. I’m not ducking him. “If anything, I was trying to give Stipe credit for the fact that he’s a good fighter, that I wanted to give him my best effort. Right? I want to fight him at my best, so I need six weeks and not a busted up hand to fight him. But people get a little bit desperate when something that they truly love gets taken away from them, and you can see it in Stipe.”

On his fight against Lewis: “People love Derrick, man. I mean, look at the numbers. Derrick Lewis’ social media exploded after UFC 229. I think the guy gained like 700,000 followers overnight. It’s crazy. He has a way to draw people in because he’s so loose. The guy is out there having a good time. I mean, Derrick Lewis, in one night he’s got 1.3 million social media followers. Stipe was the heavyweight champ of the world for almost two years and has 700,000. And it’s sad too, because Stipe is the type of guy who everyone should rally around. He’s a fireman, he’s a great guy, he’s a good competitor. But they liked that something different in Derrick, because he’s something different and he’s got momentum right now.”