LAS VEGAS — DC to WWE? It might happen in some way, shape or form.
Daniel Cormier said Friday at a UFC 230 media day here at the UFC Performance Institute that he postponed a commentary tryout with WWE when his fight with Derrick Lewis was booked. Cormier defends his UFC heavyweight title against Lewis in the main event of UFC 230 on Nov. 3 at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
“If I didn’t have this fight, I have been talking to the WWE, because they wanted me to go in and do an audition as a member of the commentary team,” Cormier said. “That was my private little thing. But because of the fight, I had to push it back. So there might be some DC in WWE shit coming.”
Cormier said after the fight with Lewis, he’ll go down to Orlando, where the WWE Performance Center is, and do the tryout. It’s something he’s interested in doing as a lifelong wrestling fan, Cormier said. Cormier is already a standout color commentator and analyst on UFC television.
“I like it,” Cormier said of WWE commentary. “I want to freak out. I want to freak out next to the thing with Vince in my ear saying, ‘Say this, you asshole!’ Because I heard Vince tells you what to say. I’m like, ‘OK, Vince.’ Don’t be surprised if I’m on TV and a couple times I go, ‘OK, OK, OK, OK.’ And just say it.”
That does not mean Cormier will be leaving UFC broadcasts any time soon, though he has said he plans on retiring from the Octagon in March on his 40th birthday.
“But I never want to not be in the UFC,” Cormier said. “I love calling fights. I just love being part of the UFC, man. It’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of.
“[WWE is] new. It’s something new, right? This is home. Over there is new. And most times, new is fun and exciting. But I love being home. This is my place. I love the UFC.”
When he was an amateur wrestler, Cormier said he had a tryout to be an in-ring performer in WWE. But Kurt Angle, the former Olympic wrestling gold medalist and WWE legend, told Cormier to stick with wrestling to see if he could become an Olympic champion. When his wrestling career was over, Cormier said he preferred to go into MMA, not pro wrestling.
As far as doing something in-ring with Brock Lesnar, a former UFC heavyweight champion, in WWE now, Cormier said he wouldn’t follow a potential script and lose to Lesnar.
“Brock will hit me with the F-5 (finishing move) and before they even get to 1, I’ll be like ‘Ahhhh, kickout!’” Cormier said with a laugh. “Kickout on they ass. No selling all of his shit. … I’d be in the WWE just no-selling Brock. Hard. They’d be like, you are the worst person to ever work with.”
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