Daniel Cormier down to fight Francis Ngannou if Stipe Miocic is stripped of title

Daniel Cormier is not afraid of Francis Ngannou, and he’s ready to fight him if need be.

The heavyweight division is currently muddled with uncertainty. The original plan called for Cormier (22-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) to challenge Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight belt in a trilogy bout. But in recent days UFC president Dana White has expressed frustration in his champion.

Miocic (19-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC), who also works as a firefighter and paramedic in Ohio, has said he’s not ready to compete by August due to his first responder obligations and the fact his gym is closed due to a stay-at-home order in his state. White has said if Miocic can’t meet his timeline, the division “has to move on.”

Enter Ngannou (15-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC), who strengthened his case for a title shot Saturday at UFC 249 when he scored a brutal 20-second knockout of Jairzinho Rozenstruik. “The Predator” has won four consecutive bouts in a total fight time of less than three minutes, and if the UFC decides to make the belt vacant, Cormier said he would be willing to take the fight.

“If Stipe won’t fight, then Francis Ngannou has earned a title fight,” Cormier said on the UFC 249 post-fight show on ESPN. “If somebody is fighting Francis Ngannou for the title, it’s going to be me. All respect in the world to Francis Ngannou, but I’m not afraid of anyone. I’ll fight anybody on any planet. I love Francis, I think he’s a sweetheart person. I would love to do my trilogy with Stipe Miocic, but if Stipe won’t fight, they’re going to take his belt just like Henry (Cejudo) gave up his and they’re going to make a fight between Francis and I for the belt. It’s as simple as that.

“I would rather fight the trilogy fight with Stipe Miocic, I think that for everything we have meant to each other with me winning one and him winning one. That would be great for me. But if he doesn’t want to fight I want to fight my last fight. I want to fight whoever. And if it’s Francis Ngannou then I guess that’s who it’s going to be.”

White appears to be on board with the possibility of Cormier vs. Ngannou. He said the situation is still in flux, but promised that a decision would be made sooner than later.

“We got to figure out this Stipe vs. Cormier thing, or figure out if we end up doing a fight with Francis,” White said. “We’ll get that figure out soon.”

Cormier reiterated that his preference is to fight Miocic and resolve their rivalry after exchanging the heavyweight belt with a pair of knockout results. His goal is to retire a UFC champion, though, and if a matchup with Ngannou is the only option, he’ll take it.

Cormier offered fair warning, though. He doesn’t have any intention of standing in front of Ngannou if they fight.

“It’s like a double-edged sword. If I go to fight Francis Ngannou, the smart way to fight him is to go take him down over and over,” Cormier said. “I did that against Derrick Lewis and people gave me flack for it, ‘All he did was wrestle.’ I’m not going to stand up with him. I’m not going to go and stand up with Francis Ngannou. I’m telling you, I’m telling him. If you’re going to be upset about me taking him down over and over, that’s just what you’re going to have to deal with. I don’t want to get knocked out. That’s what’s going to happen if I stand there. If I stand there, he would knock me out. I would probably wrestle him the whole time until I would submit him.”