Two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier is planning to retire in early 2019. The 39-year-old has no interest in fighting within his 40s. Now it would appear that Cormier has decided to double down on his plans.
UFC News
Speaking to MMA Weekly, Daniel Cormier confirmed that he is not changing his retirement plans.
“I do feel strongly in that idea. I’ve worked a long time again to be able to walk away and not be a guy that ends up on his back. I don’t want to be the guy getting beat up by some of these young guys cause I stuck around too long. I don’t want to do that. I do know that eventually time will catch up.
“Father time is undefeated. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter how good you think you are or what you think you can do — at a point, father time will catch up to you. I want to make sure that I’m out the gate before the sun is set on me.”
“I would look at it and talk to my training team about it but I don’t need to fight. I don’t even need to fight right now, I just want to fight. I don’t need to fight. I don’t need to fight for financial security, I don’t need to fight for legacy. I don’t need to fight. So I don’t need any of these guys. I don’t need Brock [Lesnar]. I don’t need Jon [Jones].
“I don’t need these guys anymore. There was a time when I needed these guys just to get to the big money fights and making more money is nice but I’ve got plenty of money. I fight because I want to. So if anybody thinks I would chase these guys and extend my career for some sort of ‘I have to get this person or that person’, that’s not true. I don’t need anyone.”
