Daniel Cormier knows all the stories about fighters calling it a career, only to end retirement and return to action.
In fact, the 41-year-old former division two champion has heard all sorts of ways that the UFC can make an attempt to keep him active with rumors abounding that Dana White is likely to offer him a financial incentive that is so rich is hanging around, he’d be crazy not to consider it at least.
But as much as Cormier loves to fight and the stacks of cash that come along with competing at the top level of the sport, he knows that the seven-hour glass throws up for any athlete in professional sports, and he is not otherwise.
“I’ll miss the competition – I live for competition,” Cormier told MMA Fighting ahead of UFC 252. “I may be the most competitive man on the roster, but it should stop for everyone. Nobody has the ability to train forever and to fight, and I know it.I can feel it now in my preparation.
‘Some people go,’ but what if they give you all the money for it? ‘And I’m as if I had to prepare as I’m now immediately prepared to do so at my age for an ongoing period would be very difficult. At 36, 37, they could call me five weeks before a fight and go, ‘Are you ready?’ I’m not like you right now, but I guarantee you I’ll be in three weeks, and I would. I do not have that luxury anymore. I need 12 weeks to reach myself where I can do what I need to do to win a fight. ”
There are a myriad of reasons why fighters have such a hard time retiring when they hang up their gloves.
For some, it simply comes down to monetary compensation, because very few athletes – even those who have held titles in the UFC – have a robust enough bank account where retirement at 40 is a viable option. For others, it’s really about the excitement of competition, where a fight can offer the adrenaline pumps the highest of altitude. That is almost impossible to duplicate outside the cage.
Cormier has witnessed it happen time and time again in the UFC and other organizations around the world. He has even seen it hit close to home with a friend and a long time teammate who struggled when it was time to run away.
Mike Swick had [come] back from all those operations and he came back and hit one man on FOX, ”Cormier said. ‘It could have been. It would have been, but he kept going. I think the fight was his last fight, and he came back and he seemed like, ‘I just want to do it once,’ and he did it and he won and it was perfect. He came back again. He tried to do it again, and he fought again, and he lost twice, and he’s like ‘OK, I’m done,’ but that could have been it.
‘It would have been, and it would have been perfect. Dude f * cking pulled himself off the ground, all those stomach problems and all and he was back and he had won. But he decided to fight, and that’s how most people think. “
Cormier winning his trilogy fight against Miocic would probably be the biggest fuel to add to his competitive fire, as it would once again prove that he remains at elite level as the best heavyweight in the sport.
While he explains it, that’s the hardest lure to resist, because the feeling that you’re still in the world is a drug, and very few fighters are resistant to that addiction.
“You go out and you fight and you do some spectacular sh * t, and all of a sudden you’re like ‘I can still do it like I used to be,’ but the reality is that’s not the case,” Cormier said.
“I think any great champion can do something for a night, but can a great champion do it for a continuous period when they are at an advanced age? I do not believe that. ‘
If the draw of competition is not enough and moneylessness does not require a comeback, Cormier also knows that the whole time on someone’s hands after a career is complete can be enough to drive a person crazy.
While athletes can absolutely continue training after retirement, it just isn’t the same as preparing for an upcoming fight.
Some fighters have finally turned to coaching to fill that void, but there are only so many of those positions available – not to mention, salaries do not normally break the bank.
Ultimately, that adds up to yet another reason to fight back, but Cormier is happy with the career he has built outside the octagon, specifically so that he is not caught in this same trap once he hangs up his gloves.
“When you think about retirement as a whole, it’s just as easy for me, especially with the task of having to look at what’s next,” Cormier explained. “I just got an offer from ESPN to work full time, not from the UFC, but for ESPN the company. I have not signed it yet, but we have received an offer. I’ve gotten a ton of interest from the WWE and a lot of other things outside of mixed martial arts in the broadcast field.
‘That makes it very easy to look for what’s next. I try to stay the moment, concentrating on what I am doing right now. Of course it’s there, but I do not want to try to look forward to what comes next, because what comes after me is not like most people. I have a good job and a good future. ”
Rather than think of his upcoming retirement as the end of something, Cormier prefers to view his latest fight as one chapter while preparing to turn the page after Saturday night again.
The desire to fight again will probably never fade as much as his passion for wrestling remained after he left his shoes in the middle of a mat in Las Vegas after an exhibition match against Chris Pendleton back in 2014.
If anything, Cormier must stop himself from thinking too much about what comes next, because he has already set himself up for success after fighting is over. But he still has issues to deal with Miocic at UFC 252.
“Act one, I grew up in Louisiana,” he said. ‘Act two is wrestling. Trading three is mixed martial arts and I think trading four will spend me time with my family and me with a TV career.
‘I believe it can overwrite everything I have done in sports after my life, and if you have that to look forward to, you do not want it to be in the foreground. It becomes too comfortable and it becomes too appealing. ”
The list of fighters who announced their retirement and actually retired is already quite short. The number of MMA fighters calling it a career while on top of the sport is even smaller.
Cormier hopes to defy those conventions by not only retiring after completing his trilogy with Miocic, but leaving on his own terms, and giving his friends, family and fans around the world something to truly remember from his last fight.
“I just think the lasting image of me will wrap that belt around my waist one last time,” Cormier said. ‘I believe this will be the memory you want to share with everyone.
‘There are a lot of pictures with me that wrap straps around my waist. I just want it to happen one more time against a tough guy. A very tough boy. ”
