Cormier looks to claim place as ‘one of the great heavyweights of all time’ with Brock Lesnar win

Whatever happens in the last two fights of Daniel Cormier’s career, he’s already secured a spot in the UFC record books. Not just as a title holder – or even as a champion in multiple divisions – but as only the second fighter in the promotion’s 25 year history to hold multiple title belts at the same time.

It’s an accomplishment that many fighters dream about during the course of their career, but for which few ever even get the opportunity to try. Cormier, however, is hoping that, before his career is finished, he can add a little something extra to his legacy. For all he’s accomplished in MMA, he hasn’t exactly set himself apart as the greatest talent of his era at either heavyweight or light heavyweight.

His career at 205 will always be shadowed by Jon Jones, and his decision to drop down from heavyweight back in 2014 derailed the opportunity to really carve out an overwhelming list of wins in the 265 lb division. However, now that he’s secured the belt in his former weight class – with a stunning KO win over Stipe Miocic earlier this month – he’s hoping that an iconic title defense in his final career bout can make him not just a rare ‘double champ,’ but an all-time great heavyweight as well.

“Brock’s a big, bad, tough boy,” Cormier said in a recent interview on the Steve Austin Show (transcript via MMA Fighting). “A former UFC champ. Obviously he’s the WWE champion. Just a massive guy with a lot of fighting ability. I’ve known Brock a long, long time and I’m excited to compete against him. And really, not to compete against him, I want to put it on him because when you beat a guy like Brock Lesnar – if I beat the most dominant heavyweight champ of all time and then couple that with a fight over Brock, they may call me one of the great heavyweights of all time.”

At the time of his win over Miocic, the Ohioan held the all time record for UFC heavyweight title defenses at three. And, while it was Cormier’s first fight at 265 in nearly a half decade, he does have wins over former UFC HW title holders Frank Mir and Josh Barnett. What do you think? Would a win over Lesnar send his resume into heavyweight GOAT consideration? Or will he always be measured more by his concurrent title reign than anything else?