© Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports, Instagram_ dc_mma

Daniel Cormier releases retirement statement: “Helluva ride”

"Not what I wanted or expected but..."

UFC 252 went down this weekend, featuring the return of a big UFC pay-per-view. The main event would see Stipe Miocic defeat Daniel Cormier via decision, winning their trilogy, and sending the latter inte retirement – For which he recently released a statement. The loss was Cormier’s second in a row, and after the fight he was clear about not wanting a fight where a title wasn’t involved.

Cormier made a lengthy post on social media to formally announce his retirement.

“Thank you all for the love and support,” Cormier wrote. “Not what I wanted or expected but it is what it is. Congrats to @stipemiocic on a fantastic fight, was an honor and pleasure to share the octagon with you for 50 minutes. Boy did we give ‘em a show everytime. To my team: I love you all to death, you’ve made so many sacrifices. I hope I made you guys proud. Salina and the kids: thank you for being my motivation. To all the fans: I love you so much. You guys push me to try and be great. To @danawhite and the @ufc: I have loved every minute. Thank you for giving me the opportunity. Been a helluva ride, huh?”

OTHER MMA NEWS:

Cormier made his professional MMA career in 2009 following a long and successful wrestling career that included several medals in national and world championships. He would get an early start in Strikeforce, winning all his bouts in the promotion as well as titles in smaller organisations. In 2011 he would take part in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, getting to the finals after defeating Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and then winning the tournament after bulldozing Josh Barnett.

He debuted in the UFC in 2013, and though he would have much success, defeating the likes of Frank Mir and Dan Henderson, he would never manage to get past his rival Jon Jones, losing both light heavyweight title bouts with the dominant champion. He would, however, manage to capture both the light heavyweight and heavyweight titles in Jones’ absence from the UFC, and is still undoubtedly one of the greatest UFC heavyweights in history.

Based on his statement – Do you think Daniel Cormier will stick to his retirement?

▶️ Follow us on Youtube for the best & latest MMA content ▶️
Daniel CormierLatest news

With roots in muay thai and as an avid combat sports fan, Sebastian Vendel-Martinez grew up while the MMA scene was blossoming in Sweden. He became part of the MMAnytt team in 2012 and has gone on to become one of the most prominent MMA reporters in Scandinavia. Currently he continues to work as a writer, reporter, video producer/editor and head editor for MMAnytt.com