Morning Report: Daniel Cormier isn’t sure if he’ll fight Jon Jones or Brock Lesnar after Derrick Lewis

After winning the heavyweight title at UFC 226, Daniel Cormier was immediately thrust into position to defend his newly won belt against Brock Lesnar when Lesnar is eligible to return to MMA in January. However, now it sounds like that fight may be in jeopardy from Cormier himself.

Cormier has maintained for awhile now that he intends to retire in March when he turns 40 years old, and it appeared Lesnar would serve as the perfect swan song for “DC”. But with Jon Jones set to return to MMA at the end of the year, and with Cormier recently accepting a short-notice title defense against Derrick Lewis at UFC 230, it appears that Lesnar may not be his last fight. Speaking recently with ESPN, Cormier revealed that he only has one fight left on his UFC contract after the Derrick Lewis title defense and he would prefer his retirement fight be a third crack at Jon Jones.

“Counting the Lewis fight, I think I’m down to two fights left,” Cormier said. “Maybe this will be a blessing in disguise, the fact that I don’t have a crazy, long fight camp to beat myself down. That may prolong it for me, but right now, I think I have this one and maybe one more. I can still fight in March and hit my retirement date. The one opponent that would matter to me most is Jones, because he’s beaten me twice.”

“The one that would mean more financially would be Lesnar. I think I would always pick the one that means more, but my wife might have something to say about that.”

When it was announced that Jones would be eligible to return to MMA after a 15-month USADA suspension for his second failed drug test, the public widely assumed that the UFC would look to book Jones-Cormier III at the earliest possible convenience, possibly for UFC 230. However, Cormier had a hand injury which prevented him from taking any fights originally. But, as the November 3rd date got closer and the UFC still needed a marquee headliner for their return to Madison Square Garden, Cormier says they made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

“I didn’t think I was going to fight on this card, but the deal I got was so good,” Cormier said. “There was no way I could say no, honestly. Especially with a guy like Derrick, who is not known for the best cardio. I’ve got to start fast and hope I can push harder than him, even with a short camp.”

Lewis himself is coming in on short notice as well, having just competed at UFC 229 last weekend, where, after staging a Comeback of the Year knockout, Lewis admitted his cardio wasn’t good enough for a title fight. Cormier seems to agree, admitting that part of what was appealing about the offer from the UFC was the opponent they had in mind. Had the UFC wanted him to fight former champions Stipe Miocic or Jon Jones, Cormier would have balked at accepting such a fight on a few week’s notice. Lewis, however, is another, more beatable animal.

“I would not have accepted a rematch against Stipe Miocic on short notice, he’s too good under these circumstances,” Cormier said. “I’m not saying Derrick isn’t good, but Stipe is capable of beating me in different ways. He does different things well. I think in this fight, Derrick has to knock me out to win.

”Usually, if a guy only has one path to victory, I do pretty well. Yes, I will admit the opponent factored into this.”

Cormier is the current UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion. He will, however, be stripped of his light heavyweight title when Jones faces Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232 on Dec. 29. Should things go according to plan at UFC 230, Cormier will then have his choice between fighting the winner of that fight or Brock Lesnar early next year.