UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic said Wednesday that he still sees spots in his left eye from a torn retina that was surgically repaired. He said there’s no timetable for his return to the Octagon, but in the meantime, he wages a different kind of battle as a part-time firefighter with the Valley View (Ohio) Fire Department.
“Right now my fight is with the coronavirus,” Miocic told Ariel Helwani during an Instagram live interview. “Not worried about [people asking about his UFC return] right now. Task at hand, right now I’m worried about what’s going on in the world. Once this is over with and get back a normal life, then we’ll worry about it.”
Although Miocic is a part-time firefighter, he said he’s going in a lot more because of the manpower need and that retired nurses and doctors are being called back to help.
“It’s getting serious,” Miocic said. “They want to make sure we’re ready if it gets bad.”
Miocic said the spots in his eye are “like a fly flying by, it’s weird.” He previously said the damage was done by inadvertent eyepokes during his last two fights with Daniel Cormier.
“I’m taking my time to get back and see how it works,” Miocic said. “See how the eye feels. [The doctor said] ‘you look good, take your time getting back, don’t be stupid.'”
After losing to Cormier on July 7, 2018, Miocic recaptured the belt with a fourth-round stoppage in the rematch on Aug. 17, 2019. UFC president Dana White wants to book the third bout, and Cormier said that he’ll retire after the trilogy is complete.
As far as training, Miocic said he has a little gym with a bike and kettlebells.