Several years ago, MMA star Daniel Cormier looked eager to throw hands with Brock Lesnar during their UFC 226 face-off. However, veteran fighter Cain Velasquez recently revealed that Cormier held a much different opinion earlier.
Daniel Cormier has shown interest in facing Brock Lesnar several times following the tension between them in the UFC 226 octagon. However, Cain Velasquez, Cormier's longtime AKA partner, recently shared that Cormier was not very keen on facing Lesnar years before their actual altercation.
Recently, speaking on the Shawn Ryan Show, Velasquez disclosed that while he believed in himself beating Lesnar, he never took the WWE veteran lightly. “He’s a freak of an athlete. My coaches and I knew that we had the recipe, but I could see everyone else,” said Velasquez. After this came his surprising revelation about Cormier. Even Daniel tells me later, he’s like, ‘Man, when you fought him, I didn’t tell you, but I was just like, I don’t want to be fighting that guy,'” he said.
Velasquez is one of the few UFC fighters, besides Alistair Overeem and Frank Mir, who boast a victory over Brock Lesnar. Velasquez ended Lesnar's UFC Heavyweight Championship run with a round-1 TKO victory at UFC 121. Lesnar later lost to Alistair Overeem at UFC 141, finally bringing an end to his UFC career. While he later made sporadic appearances, he returned for one more fight in 2016 against Mark Hunt at UFC 200.
Article Continues BelowDone with both his UFC and wrestling career, Lesnar recently retired after his loss to Oba Femi at WWE SummerSlam 2026.