Cormier: Miocic bout depends on how long pandemic lasts

Daniel Cormier is facing a lot of uncertainty as he prepares to fight for the final time before retirement.

The former UFC two-division champion thought a trilogy bout with heavyweight titleholder Stipe Miocic would happen in the summer. But now, with much of the world on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, not only is Cormier unsure of the timeframe of the Miocic bout, he doesn't know if it will happen at all.

"It just depends on how long this thing goes," Cormier told Ariel Helwani's MMA Show on Monday. "We had gotten pretty close to a date in the summer. Locked down, it was ready to go."

Cormier, who is 1-1 against Miocic, remains hopeful it will happen. He said he knows there's a chance he could lose out on his big moment, but also thinks he could be a part of a big card in the second half of 2020, once the COVID-19 outbreak is over.

"We could get started around the summer, and because all these main events that were supposed to happen have to happen, they just start doing supercard after supercard after supercard," Cormier said. "Because if you're the UFC, don't you have to stack the cards to make all the money that you're gonna miss going forward?"

The UFC was forced to postpone three events due to the coronavirus, but company president Dana White is adamant the promotion will be able to resume operations before most major sports organizations.

"If Dana's gonna get going as soon as possible, we're still gonna get to fight," Cormier said. "The moment he sees a window to get this thing back going, he's gonna do it - you know that, I know that. That means that maybe we'll get to fight."