The International Fight Week curse is not to be underestimated.
Some 24 hours after UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway was forced out of his UFC 226 co-main event showdown with undefeated challenger Brian Ortega, light heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier endured a scare that seemed to jeopardize his main event battle with heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic.
At the conclusion of the UFC 226 press conference, Cormier got out of his chair, and tripped over a speaker that had been placed right in his path. He went down hard, and limped off the stage.
See Daniel Cormier’s brutal fall above, and footage of the fallout below.
The good news is that the UFC 226 main event does not seem to be in any kind of peril. Post-fight, Cormier’s team divulged to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that, while the light heavyweight champion was ticked off about the debris field of sound equipment in his path, his fight with Miocic will go ahead as planned.
Just spoke to someone with DC, who said he is not happy about the spill today. A speaker was placed next to his chair and he tripped over it. Made it clear to say, “Fight is not in jeopardy” though.
“Just spoke to someone with DC, who said he is not happy about the spill today,” ESPN’s Brett Okamoto explained in a Tweet. “A speaker was placed next to his chair and he tripped over it. Made it clear to say, ‘Fight is not in jeopardy’ though.”
So rest easy, fight fans. At the time of this writing, UFC 226 will go ahead as UFC 226: Miocic vs. Cormier, and not UFC 226: Ngannou vs. Lewis.
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/5/2018.
