Cormier (10-0 MMA, 7-0 SF) was scheduled to fight former UFC heavyweight champ Frank Mir (16-6 MMA, 14-6 UFC) in about a month in Oklahoma City. But Mir dropped out with an injury, and White and the Zuffa brass went to work on his replacement.
White thought it was going to be Matt Mitrione (5-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) – but the UFC heavyweight turned down the fight earlier this week.
“It f—ing makes me sick,” White told MMAjunkie.com on Saturday following the UFC on FUEL TV 5 post-fight news conference. “Listen, you don’t want big opportunities, I hear you. I get it, then. All I can say is, I guess he doesn’t want big opportunities. I get it. Duly noted.
“He wants to fight a guy who weighs 205, but doesn’t want to fight the guy who’s the real heavyweight, the legitimate guy who’s ranked. And Mitrione’s not getting any younger.”
“F—in’ insane,” White said. “It makes no sense to me, and it’s insane. I’m a little bummed out by it. We’ll figure it out. Yeah, (he’s already got a fight booked). He said, ‘I’ll just take that one.’”
White told MMAjunkie.com that Cormier agreeing to fight Mitrione wasn’t any kind of an issue.
“Cormier will fight anybody,” White said. “The guys who are the real guys fight anybody, man. They’ll fight anybody.”
