Daniel Cormier Wants To Fight Alexander Gustafsson In Louisiana
Daniel Cormier vs Alexander Gustafsson for a title shot?
UFC light-heavyweight title challenger Daniel Cormier seems to have emerged from his loss to Jon Jones very well. Initially devastated by the 5-round defeat at the hands of “Bones”, the former Strikeforce heavyweight GP winner looks like he has regained his composure. The bout at UFC 182 was undoubtedly the most hyped and covered headliner of all time.
Check out what “DC” told MMAFighting.com, transcribed by yours truly:
“The only thing that gets you going again is time. I had time to feel better, get out in the world and see the division shake up (at UFC on FOX 14). I mean I’m not over it, it’ll never be over. Nothing changed, there is no relationship between Jon and I. But I hope we don’t cross paths and tangle again. After all the hard feelings, it doesn’t just disappear. The loss was tough, he got his hand raised. In the Olympics I did some things wrong, but this time I did all the dieting and stuff, but the stars didn’t align for me. “
Cormier seemed out of character somewhat when he faced Jones, not in the lead up, but actually on fight night. He didn’t push through on his shots enough, and wasn’t effective in his pressuring. These are all things that Cormier made his name doing, so what was different this time around? “DC” feels that not having teammate Cain Velasquez to train with made a big impact:
“When I got to that fourth round and fifth round I didn’t have that push I needed. It was a very big deal that I didn’t have Cain. There are days where Cain would just beat me up, but I didn’t have that this time around. It was a big deal not having Velasquez for this fight, but hats off to Jon for getting the job done. I regret (taking the fourth round off). I fought very hard the first three rounds, I was doing well, fourth round I took a breather but Jon took the momentum.”
Props to Cormier for not having sour grapes after such a bitter rivalry with Jones, but the question is will he ever get the chance to fight the champion again? With Anthony Johnson next in line to fight Alexander Gustafsson, who will “DC” be looking to fight next?
“The Gustafsson fight makes sense, if the UFC says I’m fighting Alexander, then yes, I’ll fight him. I’ll fight anyone the UFC puts in front of me. If it’s anyone else, OK. It needs to be a guy that has name recognition so I can either fight for the championship again, or be very close. Past myself and Gus, and Rashad (Evans) of course, who else is there? We are all rematches for Jon; it’s a top heavy division. I want big fights. I would like to be on the rumored Louisiana card and headline that, I would like to fight at home.”
Moving on to the next opponent for Jones, Daniel Cormier says he is rooting for “Rumble” Johnson:
“”Jon Jones cannot take those kinds of punches. I believe Johnson does have a chance; as a betting man I don’t know. It’s the tools that Jon has, he’s smart and I think he’ll try to finds ways to take away Anthony’s biggest weapons. I’ll be rooting for Anthony Johnson because he’s a great guy. I’ll give him some clues, some things that I felt in the fight. I’ll be rooting for “Rumble” Johnson to get the job done.”
Well if anyone is experienced enough in how Jones fights, it’s Cormier. He has spent countless nights analyzing the champion’s style on FOX, and spent five hard rounds fighting “Bones.” So it looks like we will be seeing Daniel Cormier vs Alexander Gustafsson in Louisiana if “DC” has his way, and surely that would be the next title contender shot?
