Daniel Cormier doubtful fight schedule will continue as planned following UFC 249

Daniel Cormier believes that Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 249 will take place next month. However, he remains sceptical about the destiny of future events.

The former two-division champion trains under the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) banner alongside teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov. “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov is scheduled to defend his lightweight title against Tony Ferguson in the main event of UFC 249. The eagerly anticipated matchup has been scheduled 4 times before but cancelled each time.

With the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, and three UFC fight cards already cancelled, many fans are concerned that UFC 249 on April 18 won’t take place. However, the UFC president Dana White and Daniel Cormier are confident that the event will still come to fruition.

“I may be the only guy that wants this more than Dana White,” Cormier laughed and said to MMA Fighting. “I might be the only guy that wants this more than Dana.

“I do believe he’ll get UFC 249 done. I don’t doubt him. I don’t doubt Dana. When he usually sets his mind to something, he gets it accomplished. He talked about FOX and ESPN and all those things back in the day and people thought he was insane. But then on Saturday, we got 12 hours straight of UFC on ESPN. That never was a thought for us back in the day when we were watching this thing as it was starting to grow. I think his will and his passion has really guided this sport to places we never thought we’d be.”

Dana White is yet to announce the official venue for UFC 249 which is expected to be broadcast from a closed arena. However, “DC” believes that UFC 249 may be the exception to the rule, and that upcoming UFC shows in Oklahoma City, San Diego and Portland may be put on hold.

“I believe UFC 249 will happen and I rarely disagree with what Dana says — I don’t know how he’s going to continue the full fight schedule after that,” said Cormier. “A one-off, I think is easier to pull off because it’s so massive.

“I don’t know how difficult it’s going to be to do UFC Oklahoma City and UFC San Diego and UFC Portland. I don’t know how that looks opposed to UFC 249, one of the biggest cards of the year.”

Daniel Cormier is aware of how much the upcoming bout means to his teammate Nurmagomedov. The lightweight champion has revealed his plans to retire soon, but not until he has defeated Tony Ferguson and cemented his legacy.

“I’ve known Khabib for years. I know how much this particular fight means to him,” Cormier said about Nurmagomedov. “He wants to fight Tony Ferguson. He wants to beat Tony Ferguson. I feel like he’s been preparing himself as well as he ever has in order to go accomplish that goal. Not only Khabib, but I’m sure Tony feels the same way.

“Dude has been waiting for years to get his hands on Khabib. What’s Tony won in a row now? 12 fights? It’s insane. The UFC put something up there the other day with Khabib’s last 12 opponents and Tony’s last 12 opponents. That’s absurd to have guys that high on the collision course to fight each other. Through all the fight rescheduling, all the postponements, nobody else has been able to beat or compete with these dudes. That tells you how ahead of everyone else that they are.”

What do you think of these comments from Daniel Cormier?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 3/26/2020.