Cormier reveals WWE money ended his long-awaited superfight with Brock Lesnar

Daniel Cormier has confirmed that a lucrative WWE contract offer was the sole reason his blockbuster heavyweight showdown with Brock Lesnar collapsed after the two men’s memorable face-off at UFC 226 in 2018.

Speaking in a Q&A video on his YouTube channel, the former two-division UFC champion opened up on one of the sport’s great what-ifs. “Man, I wanted that so bad,” Cormier said. “You know Brock Lesnar — I know him because we both wrestled in junior college in the same year, and he wrestled at Minnesota the same year I was at Oklahoma State.”

The fight had appeared close to reality. Cormier knocked out Stipe Miocic at UFC 226 to claim the heavyweight title, and Lesnar immediately stormed the Octagon, shoved the new champion and cut a promo that set the MMA world alight. What few knew at the time was that a phone call had already laid the groundwork weeks earlier.

“I was at my daughter’s gymnastics [event], and I get a random number on my phone,” Cormier recalled. “‘It’s Brock.’ I say, ‘What’s up, Brock? What the f**k are you calling me for?’ ‘I hear you’re fighting that big white boy.’ I said, ‘Stipe?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’ He goes, ‘You knock him out, it’s going to be Christmas early for your family because we’re going to fight.’”

Cormier duly delivered the knockout, but the promised fight never came. The reason, he now says, was straightforward: “It didn’t happen because the WWE gave him too much money, and he made the right choice. You talk about a man that money follows — it’s Brock Lesnar. He’s done really well for himself. I’m proud of him.”

The revelation closes the book on one of the most tantalising matchups never made in UFC heavyweight history. Cormier went on to defend the title before eventually retiring in 2020, while Lesnar has not competed in MMA since his UFC 200 win over Mark Hunt in 2016 — a result later overturned after a doping violation.