UFC News: Daniel Cormier returning for one final fight; names the opponent he will face

Daniel Cormier was a guest on Ariel Helwani's ESPN MMA show and the former UFC Heavyweight Champion finally opened up about his future.

DC confirmed to Helwani that he plans on entering the Octagon one final time and will take on Stipe Miocic for the title.

Cormier reiterated that win or lose, his next fight against Miocic will be the last time we see the future UFC Hall of Famer compete inside the cage.

Cormier said, "I'm gonna fight this guy again...The next one is the last one. It has to be against Stipe. No one else matters. Yes, they want to make that fight, they want me to fight Stipe again. It was a fantastic fight, it was a fantastic fight for all the wrong reasons, it didn’t have to be a fantastic fight, but it was.”

“Next one will be the last one, but it has to be Stipe. No one else matters.”@dc_mma tells @arielhelwani he plans to retire after a trilogy fight with Stipe Miocic pic.twitter.com/KrOD2c2lVB

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 23, 2019

Cormier's wife Selena had a big role to play in his decision to fight again as she didn't want his career to end on a loss to Miocic.

Cormier tells @arielhelwani that he likely would have retired had he beat Miocic. His reason for returning is because he does not want to retire with that loss being his final fight.Cormier says that if he fights the way he should have fought and loses, he's okay with it.

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) September 23, 2019

The backstory

Daniel Cormier lost the UFC Heavyweight title to Stipe Miocic at UFC 241 after he was knocked out in the fourth round of the fight.

This was the second time that the two heavyweights faced each other, with Cormier winning their first outing via knockout at UFC 226.

Cormier's fight at 241 was expected to be his swan song but the taste of defeat has certainly reignited a fire in DC's belly.

When will Daniel Cormier vs. Stipe Miocic III happen?

Cormier is targeting a possible return at UFC 245 which is scheduled to take place on December 14th, 2019 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The 245 card is already being headlined by a Women's Bantamweight title fight between Amanda Nunes and Germaine de Randamie. A title doubleheader sounds like a great way to end the year and it does look like Dana White and co. may actually go down that route. That is, of course, if Miocic accepts the proposal.

Cormier added, "I’m not in a place right now where I’m chasing, I’m waiting, I’m begging. I’m not gonna do any of that stuff. I don’t need to. I hope he fights me, runs it back as I ran it back for him. I didn’t necessarily have to. I could have taken that win last July and said that was beautiful and fought somebody else.”