Daniel Cormier announced today that he is going to relinquish the UFC light heavyweight title. He had
already been de-listed as light heavyweight champion on the UFC website, but his announcement tonight finally makes it official.
Cormier was going to be stripped of the 205-pound title this weekend anyway following the fight between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232 on Saturday Night; but, in a statement provided to ESPN, Cormier said this allows him to walk away on his own terms.
"Today I am going to relinquish the UFC light heavyweight title. I am not going to be stripped of the belt that I've defended with my all for three and a half years. Being stripped of a title suggests you've done something wrong, and I haven't.
I'd rather walk away this way, with my head held high as it always has been, than have the history books say I was stripped. I've defended this title this year. I was approached with the idea of fighting at heavyweight, so I took it. I fought three times in 2018. No champion has been more active than me. I am the fighter of the year. My story and my legacy will not include me being stripped of a title. They can have it."
Jon Jones first defeated Daniel Cormier by unanimous decision at UFC 182 in 2015 but was stripped of the light heavyweight belt after an arrest following a hit-and-run accident. Cormier then defeated Anthony Johnson for the interim belt. Jones and Cormier met again at UFC 214 in July 2017 and Jones won by TKO in the third round; however, the result was later switched to a no-contest after Jones tested positive for Turinabol, an anabolic steroid, and Cormier was reinstated as light heavyweight champion. He went on to defeat Volkan Oezdemir in January 2018.
Cormier then went on to become the UFC heavyweight champion by knocking out Stipe Miocic in July. He defended his heavyweight title in November when he submitted Derrick Lewis.
Cormier has maintained that he will retire from the sport once he turns 40 in March. He previously
stated he has no desire to fight Jones for a third time, regardless of the outcome of Saturday's match between Jones and Gustafsson. It's widely speculated that Cormier's final fight will be against heavyweight star Brock Lesnar.