Daniel Cormier Looking To Avoid Surgery On Broken Hand And Targeting July Return

Daniel Cormier is just a few days departed from his fantastic performance at UFC 220, but already people are asking when he can fight next.

Speaking at the post-fight press conference on Saturday, Cormier said that he might have broken his hand and he confirmed that he had a the hospital earlier this week. Speaking to MMA Junkie Radio today, Cormier gave an update on what injuries he’d sustained.

“So I’ve got like a little break in my thumb and I’ve also got some ligament damage,” Cormier told MMA Junkie Radio. “So the doctor wants to see, I don’t like to do surgery, so I’m going to try and put on off the surgery and see in a couple weeks. I’ll go back and see what it looks like and see if it’s starting to heal with the little spur and ligament. If it’s starting to heal then I won’t do the surgery. I’m going to do some PRP.

“I’m that guy man, I don’t like going under the knife. I would rather just try and do the alternative, so I don’t have to have too much time off. So, yeah, there was a break in there and also a torn ligament in my wrist, so that’s why I was having so many issues after the fight. Thumb and wrist.”

Cormier then went on to explain why he wanted to avoid surgery and said that he just wanted to keep the momentum that he’d built up going.

“It just takes longer and I want to try and not have surgery,” Cormier said. “I’ve had a number of surgeries over the course of my life and I don’t really like it, but also, I don’t really have the time to waste. I’ve been pretty active. I fought three fights in the last nine months. So yeah, I’ve been pretty active so maybe I’ll just try and keep it rolling.”

When asked for a timeframe on his return, Cormier said he was looking at the summer as a realistic goal. If he does make that date, Cormier believes that opens up the possibility of getting another three fights before retirement.

“If everything goes great, 6-8 weeks will be the injury time,” Cormier said. “So that’s two months out, but my training camp would be four months. A more realistic timeframe would be for a fight in the summer. Maybe July International Fight Week. Sometime in that timeframe.

“That would also give me time to rest and recover from the fight. That would give me time to maybe fight on more at the end of the year and then maybe sneak another in around February or March. I could get three more in before I’m done.”