Daniel Cormier has sent a warning to Brock Lesnar ahead of his unexpected first title defence.
After adding the UFC heavyweight title to his light heavyweight crown, Cormier's path to retirement looked relatively straightforward.
Lesnar stormed the Octagon after the main event of UFC 226 to confront Cormier after he became only the second fighter in the promotion's history to hold two titles simultaneously.
Having a world-renowned, two-division champion face off against a WWE superstar who incredibly managed to win the UFC heavyweight title in just his fourth bout as a professional mixed martial artist set up a pay-per-view dream for Dana White.
If the Lesnar plan failed then the lucrative options existed for an immediate rematch against Stipe Miocic or the realisation of a trilogy with Jon Jones for Cormier but as it turned out, matchmakers went in a different direction.
Derrick Lewis' comeback victory over Alexander Volkov at UFC 229 earlier this month was rewarded with a first shot at heavyweight gold and it will be a short turnaround for 'The Black Beast' as he will share the Octagon with Cormier on Saturday night.
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Cormier is heavily favoured to come out on top against Lewis but 'DC' fully intends to retire sooner rather than later and while he would surely welcome the payday that would accompany a meeting with Lesnar, Cormier is not going to appreciate it if Lesnar tries to steal his thunder this weekend.
"I heard Brock Lesnar will be at The Garden for UFC 230," Cormier said on
SiriusXM.
"If he tries to step into that cage again, I’m going to slap him in his face. I owe him one from last time."
Dana White knows the kind of drawing power possessed by Lesnar and the UFC president previously suggested that the man who stopped Randy Couture for the heavyweight crown ten years ago could potentially be in attendance at Madison Square Garden this weekend.
"Brock Lesnar might be in New York," White told ESPN. "That’s not guaranteed, we haven’t talked about it or anything, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he called and said, ‘I’m coming to the fight.’ I plan on Brock Lesnar fighting soon."
