After Brock Lesnar stormed the cage confronted Daniel Cormier at UFC 226 in July of 2018, a fight between the two seemed on the horizon. However, the big money bout never came to pass, and Lesnar is now retired from MMA, leaving the octagon behind to focus on competition inside WWE’s squared circle.
During a 2019 interview with TalkSPORT, Daniel Cormier revealed that he was struggling with a back injury during that time frame, and the injury was already advanced when he faced Derrick Lewis in November of 2019. The injury and necessary surgery put any plans for a fight between him and Brock Lesnar on hold prior to The Beast Incarnate’s official MMA retirement.
“The reason I haven’t fought, and the reason I didn’t fight in March was because I had back surgery in December,” Cormier said. “When I was about to fight Derrick Lewis, and I was telling you guys all how I sneezed and how my back was so jacked I didn’t know what was going on… It was so bad that about a week later [or] two weeks later, I started having pain going down my hip. So I was like, ‘Yo, what’s going on with my hip?’
“And I would travel, then right around Christmas, I went to Milwaukee for that last Fox show because I was like, ‘I have to do it, last time I’m going to work for Fox…’ Even though my hip was bothering me.
“I had a disc that was bulging out of my back and sitting on my sciatic nerve,” Cormier explained. “It was out two inches of the chamber that holds the disc in. Two inches the disc was out, I couldn’t even walk.
“Deron Winn actually had to carry me out of my house and into my truck to take me all around to see doctors because my wife was having to deal with my children. It was bad. I would have fought in March if I was healthy. I probably really shouldn’t have fought Derrick Lewis.”
Daniel Cormier Hasn’t Heard Of Any Plans For Him To Face Brock Lesnar In WWE
While the opportunity for an MMA bout between Daniel Cormier and Brock Lesnar seems to have passed, fans began to wonder whether the two might instead go head to head inside the squared circle. Speculation about a potential bout increased after Cormier made an appearance as a guest referee for the Fight Pit match between Seth Rollins and Matt Riddle at the 2022 edition of WWE Extreme Rules.
However, during an October interview with ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, Cormier said that he hadn’t heard any plans of that nature.
“I’ve not heard anything. That’s the thing, right? When something like this happens, and this was, honestly, very good for me because people started to talk. People started talking about, ‘Oh my goodness, I remember when him and Brock were in the Octagon and they were supposed to fight.’ So, it seems to make a lot of sense. But as you know, just because something makes sense, it doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen. So, no, there is no talk of me fighting Brock Lesnar.” (h/t Thirsty for News)
Brock Lesnar last wrestled at WWE Crown Jewel, where he defeated fellow former MMA star Bobby Lashley.