Stipe Miocic responds to pressure from Dana White, Daniel Cormier to defend UFC title

Stipe Miocic felt the need to clear the air about his next title defense, and he’s done just that.

The UFC heavyweight champion took to social media Wednesday to declare that he has every intention of defending his belt in a trilogy bout with Daniel Cormier next, but insisted he won’t bypass crucial steps to make it happen.

Cormier (22-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) recently came out and passionately told Miocic (19-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) to sign on for their anticipated third showdown, which the challenger hopes will happen in August. Miocic, who serves as firefighter in his home state of Ohio, responded revealing that, along with his obligations on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic, his gym was closed and therefor he’s unable to train.

UFC president Dana White did not respond kindly to Miocic, hinting that a lengthy delay could “possibly” lead to him being stripped of his gold. Miocic scoffed at that notion, and went online to spell things out in detail: He’s a first responder in the state of Ohio, which remains under stay-at-home orders, and he’ll be glad to start training for the fight as soon as he’s able (via Twitter):

Miocic has not fought since reclaiming the UFC heavyweight belt from Cormier at UFC 241 in August. He suffered an eye injury during the fight that took several months to heal. Cormier won the first fight at UFC 226 in July 2018 via knockout, and all parties appear ready to settle the score once the time is right.