Coach believes Dana White will persuade Daniel Cormier to delay retirement plans

UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier has long planned to retire in March of 2019, when he turns 40. From the sounds of it, however, the champ might just delay his retirement plans as fights Jon Jones, Brock Lesnar, and Stipe Miocic all loom on the horizon.

UFC President Dana White recently said that he’d like to see Daniel Cormier delay his retirement plans to allow time for some of these fights. According to Cormier’s long-time coach Javier Mendez, it’s very possible that the UFC boss gets his way.

“If Dana had his way, there’d be three left. And you know what, Dana has a pretty good way of persuading people,” Mendez told MMA Fighting. “I like Dana, so I don’t know — we may see two or three [more fights]. I don’t know, I think so. I think Dana has a way of making things good for DC and making it right, so yeah, possibly. I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Whatever Daniel Cormier decides, Javier Mendez promises to support him wholly.

“For me, I love DC so much, that if DC says tomorrow, ‘Jav, I’m done,’ then I’m going to encourage him to be done. But if he says, ‘Jav, I want to fight again,’ then I’m going to be onboard with him,” Mendez said. “I’m with whatever DC wants. I love that guy so much, he’s such a great team captain and a great individual and a great friend. He’s not endangering his health, so for me, whatever he wants, I’m going to be onboard. So if he tells me tomorrow, ‘I’m done,’ then I’ll tell you he’s done, but if he says, ‘I’m going to fight 10 more fights, Jav,’ let’s fight 10 more fights. This is DC’s train. I’m onboard, and I’m glad to be onboard, and I’ll ride it until he doesn’t want to be onboard.”

Do you think Daniel Cormier should continue fighting, or stick to his original retirement plan?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 1/4/2019.