The uncertain timeline of the coronavirus outbreak could have a hand in deciding how Daniel Cormier's farewell from mixed martial arts goes.
The former UFC double champ appeared on "Ariel Helwani's MMA Show" on Monday and spoke about his fork in the road, which could lead to the anticipated trilogy fight against UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic or getting a lackluster farewell like Vince Carter got from the NBA after it suspended its season due to the spread of COVID-19.
"You could become Vince and not really get that big sendoff that you're hoping for," Cormier began explaining.
"Or we could get started around the summer and because all these main events that were supposed to happen have to happen, (UFC) just starts doing super card after super card after super card," he continued. "Because if you're the UFC, don't you have to stack the cards to make all the money that you're going to miss going forward? Because people will watch. And I could end up taking the Brink's truck to my house at the end of this thing.
"Two things can happen — I could either not get that moment or I could be part of a card like UFC 200 because I believe the longer this thing goes, the more of a chance the UFC becomes just massive pay-per-views all through the end of the year."
As the conversation continued, Cormier informed Helwani that negotiations for a trilogy fight with Miocic were looking to be set for the summer before the coronavirus wiped away sports and created society's new normal, which continues to evolve daily. That said, DC is still confident the fight gets made once COVID-19 is tapped into submission.
"It felt like we were getting fairly close (with negotiations) and I believe that Stipe wants to do this third fight because he's a competitor and who wants to be 1-1?" Cormier said of their rivalry, which includes his first-round KO of Miocic in July 2018 and Miocic's fourth-round TKO of DC last August.
"Why not try to win the trilogy, especially when you exploited such a big spot in my defense in the last fight?" Cormier added. "Maybe he could do that earlier this time."
Whatever transpires, DC vows that he won't hold on to MMA too much longer. After all, the 41-year-old has already exceeded his original retire-at-40 decree.
"I'm not Bernard Hopkins," Cormier said, comparing himself to the legendary world champion boxer who fought until he was 51 years old. "This is the last time."