UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic ‘not here to make friends’ with Daniel Cormier

Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier have a lot of mutual respect for each other and, during their stint as rival coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 27, both men seemed to be on friendly terms.

With that said, Miocic, the reigning UFC heavyweight champion, is ‘here to fight’ and warned ‘DC’ that there will be no trace of friendship when the cage door closes at UFC 226 on July 7.

“It’s business,” Miocic told MMAWeekly ahead of his heavyweight title bout with Cormier. “I always want the best for him, but unfortunately, he’s gotta fight me though. It’s business. Like I said, that’s what I signed up for.

“I’m not here to make friends, I’m here to fight.”

35-year-old Miocic will look to defend his heavyweight title for the fourth time at UFC 226, and the Ohio-born talent recently told Ariel Helwani that he plans to retire as champion. Miocic is already considered the best UFC heavyweight champ of all time, and the part-time firefighter will look to etch his name into the history books permanently with a win over Cormier next month.

Cormier, the reigning UFC light heavyweight kingpin, is also looking to make history of his own at UFC 226 as he will look to become the second ever simultaneous two-division champion in the promotion’s history, joining the ranks of former featherweight and lightweight champ Conor McGregor. Cormier is the former Stikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix winner and was considered one of the best heavyweight fighters in the world before he dropped to 205 lbs. in 2014.

UFC 226, which will feature the highly anticipated title bout between Miocic and Cormier in the main event, takes place next month, July 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.