Coming off a defeat, Cigano says he would like to face Cormier: 'I would love to do that fight'

J. Cigano at UFC weigh-in. Photo: Reproduction/YouTube SevereMMA

Although he is not in the best phase of his career, junior gypsy continues to exude confidence. After a recent knockout to Francis Ngannou, the Brazilian continues to wait for his next commitment with the organization so that he can resume his journey towards a new title fight in the future. In an interview with 'Combate', the former heavyweight champion (up to 120,2kg) listed some possible names to share the octagon. Among them, that of Daniel Cormier, whom he treats with respect and claims a desire to confront.

See too

On fight week, Poirier says: 'If I beat Khabib, I'll be the best lightweight in history'

After BRAVE title, Predator dreams big: 'I want to be three-time champion'

Jéssica Bate-Estaca aims for a rematch against Weili Zhang: 'It could even be in China'

“I think (Daniel) Cormier is a really tough guy. Bad fight for anyone, but for me, it would be a great fight to make. I would love to do this fight. When I fought (Cain) Velásquez, he (Daniel) talked a lot of nonsense at the time. In other words, I think a fight like that would make sense. Let's see there. If they really close this fight with Volkov, I don't know, we'll see what happens in the future, but it's a fight that I think would please the public a lot”, said Cigano.

Júnior also confirmed his desire to face Stipe Miocic for the third time. The Brazilian and the North American have a history in the past. The two have already faced each other in two situations, with one victory each. The first of them happened in 2014, when the Santa Catarina native defeated Stipe in a unanimous decision by the judges. In the last one, in 2017, with the opposite result, Júnior ended up succumbing to the strength of his rival and was defeated by knockout in the first round.

Before trying another chance against Miocic, Cigano, however, has a fixed target: Francis Ngannou, for whom Júnior suffered a brutal knockout in his last commitment.

“My main objective now is to have a rematch with (Francis) Ngannou as soon as I can, and then a third fight with (Stipe) Miocic”, declared the athlete.

Currently, Cigano is 35 years old and is one of the participants in the traditional 'Dança dos Famosos', the Brazilian version of 'Dancing With the Stars'. The athlete has a verbal agreement to face Alexander Volkov in the main fight of UFC Moscow, which takes place on November 9, in Russia. The UFC, however, has not yet confirmed the clash.

The Santa Catarina native has 27 fights in his professional record, with 21 victories in six defeats.