Daniel Cormier makes a big change for his training camp against Stipe Miocic ahead of UFC 252

Daniel Cormier is set to conclude his legendary MMA career at UFC 252 as he takes on Stipe Miocic in the finale of their trilogy. As you probably know by now, the two are 1-1, with Daniel Cormier knocking Miocic out in round one in 2018 to become the UFC Heavyweight Champion.

Their next meeting would come a year later, with the two going to war for four rounds before Miocic utilized body shots to perfection and reclaimed the Heavyweight Championship from Daniel Cormier. The only logical move was to book the trilogy and that's exactly what we'll be getting this August as we find out who the best Heavyweight in the world is.

While Daniel Cormier has been busy with commentary duties in UFC recently, he's seemingly back in training mode as he gets ready to prepare for his final battle. While he usually trains at the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) along with several other elite UFC and MMA athletes, the former Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight Champion won't be going to San Jose as usual.

Due to AKA being shut, he will be training out of a home gym constructed for him, as per his Instagram post:

View this post on Instagram

Big thank you to @chadjhaygood and his crew for doing this while I am gone. When I head home I’ll have a home gym in place. Full wrestling and grappling mat, cage door, 2airdynes, 2 echelon bikes, treadmill, 2 heavy bags and ground and pound dummy. I’m so excited about having all this available for camp. Let’s go!!! If you want it bad enough, you can make it happen. #andnewagain

A post shared by Daniel "DC" Cormier (@dc_mma) on May 12, 2020 at 12:21pm PDT

On the Weighing In podcast, his long-time training partner Josh Thomson revealed why Cormier is training out of his home (H/T BJPENN):

“This fight is not at his camp. This fight is not at AKA, because AKA is closed. So what they are doing is, he built a gym at his house. He has the coaches go there with a couple of the guys like Deron Winn, to wrestle, and also to spar with Kyle Crutchmer and some other guys that were there,” Thomson said. “So I don’t know if we’re going to see the best of both guys.”

Tony and Tiago thank you boys for all the rounds so far. It’s been amazing , so tough. I appreciate you two and you’re playing a great part in my journey to become two time @ufc heavyweight champion. #andnewagain pic.twitter.com/Fe7pdtKlQh
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) June 26, 2020

The state of the Heavyweight division after Daniel Cormier

It'll be interesting to see how much of a difference it makes. It's a shame that Daniel Cormier won't get to end his career in front of a crowd, but the show must go on. Moreover, the Heavyweight division will be in limbo until the fight is over.

Francis Ngannou is expected to be the replacement fighter should one of them pull out. If he doesn't, then he's guaranteed the next crack at the Heavyweight Championship - 2-and-a-half years after last challenging Stipe Miocic.