Cormier responds to Miocic tweet: ‘You’re done!’

On June 7, Stipe Miocic went to Twitter to tease what’s likely to come — that being a muchanticipated trilogy fight between himself and Daniel Cormier for the UFC heavyweight championship.

Miocic tweeted, “The time has come. Who’s ready?” in a photo of himself walking to the octagon before a bout.

The time has also come for social media jabs, and Cormier responded with the first a while later on June 7 with a Tweet reply to the UFC heavyweight champion.

“You’re done!” said Cormier in his tweet with a smiling face emoji and heart eyes.

More Twitter jabs are sure to follow, but for the fans what remains is the official announcement of where and when for Cormier-Miocic III.

The two fought about 10 months ago in Anaheim, Calif., where Miocic knocked out Cormier in the fourth round to regain the heavyweight belt.

It was a dramatic finish to a fight controlled by Cormier early on until Miocic began using a series of body shots before finishing off the knockout with a series of lefts and rights late in Round 4.

Cormier won the first bout between two in July 2018 in Las Vegas with a first-round knockout. It took more than a year for Miocic to get the rematch he wanted badly. The third fight will likely be more than a year later as well.

Miocic has been under fire — most notably from UFC president Dana White — about returning to octagon vs. Cormier by the end of summer but two factors complicated things.

First was when Miocic suffered a torn retina in the fight with Cormier last August. It had to be surgically repaired.

Second was the novel coronavirus pandemic, which forced Miocic’s Valley View gym, Strong Style, to close. Gyms recently reopened, and Miocic confirmed to The News-Herald he’s recently returned there for training.

“I’ve already said I’m going to fight DC,” Miocic tweeted on May 11. “He just likes to make noise. My team is working on securing a training location and dates w UFC. I have five belts at home. I don’t need to sit on anything. If I didn’t have a torn retina, I would’ve already fought & retired.”

The hint of Miocic possibly retiring after his upcoming bout with Cormier is the first indication of that. The Eastlake North graduate turns 38 in August. Cormier is 41, and wants a rematch with Miocic (19-3) as quickly as possible.

“I would love to do my trilogy fight with Stipe Miocic,” Cormier told reporters at UFC 249 on May 9 in Jacksonville, Fla.

White also made it clear while speaking with the media at UFC 249 that Cormier-Miocic III was a priority.

“The division has to move on for all the other people,” said White. “... People are waiting. It’s the right thing to do.”

To which Cormier (202) added: “It’s simple as that. You’ve got to fight as the champ.”

Thanks to Miocic’s June 7 tweet, it appears that’s about to happen.