When Daniel Cormier knocked out Stipe Miocic at UFC 226 to claim the heavyweight championship, he became only the second man in UFC history to hold titles simultaneously in two different weight classes . The first, Conor McGregor, had a short-lived run as champ-champ, with the UFC stripping him of his featherweight title only two weeks after he won the lightweight belt. Now it appears Cormier is in a similar boat.

Speaking recently with Ariel Helwani of ESPN, Cormier suggested that the UFC is pressuring him to relinquish his light heavyweight title so Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson can fight for it later this year.

”I imagine they’re going to take that belt, because I am scheduled to fight Brock Lesnar [at heavyweight],” Cormier said. “I can’t fight at 205 first, so I’m pretty sure that they will take that title.”

Cormier revealed that the UFC originally intended to strip him so a rumored fight between Gustafsson and Yoel Romero could be for the light heavyweight title, but when that bout fell through, the company shifted its focus towards a Jones-Gustafsson title rematch. Cormier also revealed that though he had previously said he was wanted to defend his 205-pound title again before defending his heavyweight belt against Lesnar, that became impossible due to a broken hand that will keep him out until next year. Instead, Cormier has his eyes fully set ahead on the Lesnar fight and the financial windfall that will accompany it.

”If a fight with Brock Lesnar for the amount of money that brings and the prestige that that brings is your fallback plan, that’s a pretty good one to have,” Cormier said.

But what about after the Lesnar fight? Cormier has steadfastly maintained that he intends to retire from MMA in March, on his 40th birthday. With a fight against Lesnar taking place in January, that doesn’t leave much time for Cormier to get in one final fight. Also, Cormier previously said that he had “moved past” a third fight with Jones. But with the prospect of one final crack that his bitter rival now looming so tantalizingly on the horizon, it appears Cormier can’t help himself and would like to close out his career with a third bout against Jones.

”I can’t turn this off. It’s what makes me uniquely me: my competitiveness and my desire to fight and compete against the best in the world,” Cormier concluded. “And at the bottom of it, no matter how much I talk garbage about this dude, not matter how much I disrespect him, he’s still one of the greatest fighters ever, and I have never not said that.

“He’s a phenomenal talent, he’s a fantastic fighter [and] he’s just a cheater. And ultimately that fault – that he’s a cheater – does not deter me from wanting to compete against him again.”