Dana White promises he won’t try to convince Daniel Cormier to delay his retirement

Daniel Cormier, who currently owns the UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight (we think?) belts, is planning to retire from MMA when he turns 40 in March of 2019. That being said, there is plenty that the former Olympian and Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winner hopes to accomplish between now and then, from a heavyweight title super fight with Brock Lesnar, to a possible trilogy fight with his arch rival Jon Jones, and even a potential rematch with Stipe Miocic, who he defeated to win the title back in July.

Given the length of Daniel Cormier’s to-do list, some fans have worried that he might be encouraged to delay his longstanding retirement plans. While this is certainly possible, UFC President Dana White assures he won’t be the one pressing Cormier to keep fighting.

“I never convince anyone to stick around,” Dana White said at the UFC 230 post-fight press conference (transcript via BloodyElbow). “If somebody thinks they’re done, you’ll never hear an argument out of me. When you say you’re done, you’re probably done. You think about Cormier, and he’s been doing this for a long time, whether wrestling, mixed martial arts, and he’s gonna be 40 years old soon. He’s got a lot of wear and tear on his body.”

While Dana White has been known to stretch or even entirely bypass the truth in the past, he’s actually got a pretty respectable track record of encouraging aging fighters to hang up the gloves, having had ‘the talk’ with former stars like Matt Hughes and Chuck Liddell.

Do you think Daniel Cormier will retire as planned in March? What do you think the future UFC Hall of Famer can accomplish between now and then?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/72018.