Daniel Cormier Says Lorenzo Fertitta Confirmed He Is Next For Jones

UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones was the latest victim of the injury curse as he was pulled from his UFC 178 date with Daniel Cormier, and his next defense will now go down at UFC 182. With the jacked up leg of “Bones”, number one contender Alexander Gustafsson made his voice heard, stating that he wanted the shot in January.

This left “DC” in no-man’s land should the promotion choose Gus over him, as he would probably have to fight again just to stay active, or sit dormant. That will not be the case according to Cormier, as he spoke to FOX Sports, transcribed by MMAMania.com:

“There were a lot of questions when I heard he was out of the fight. Remember, I replaced Alexander Gustafsson. When I heard Jon was hurt, now he and Gustafsson are now on the same schedule to be healthy. So my first question was, do I have to go back behind Gustafsson now, right? And I was assured it is going to be me in January, he’s not going to take my place. Lorenzo Fertitta, the big boss said this is a fight we’re keeping together.”

So the panic is over for “DC”, but Gustafsson is directly affected by this news. Now facing a further four months of inactivity, “The Mauler” may have to sit and stew for a while before he can get in the octagon with Jones again. For Cormier, the news came as music to his ears:

 I was very concerned about that, I didn’t want to lose my place in line. But to have this fight with a full training camp, six months to prepare and to know that I’m fighting Jon Jones. It can be a blessing, but I would be outside of myself to not say that I went into this fight with my knee pretty jacked up and I was going to fight through it to get a title.”

It was well documented that Cormier was carrying an injury coming in to this fight, but I suppose having the title makes it even more risky when picking up knocks in training. For Jones, it seems that it was a case of better safe than sorry. For his UFC 165 foe Gustafsson, this week robably couldn’t get any worse.

Do you agree that Cormier should have kept his place, or would the number one contender be a more fitting opponent at UFC 182? Remember that Jones and Cormier also have an explosive feud to settle, that started with a UFC 178 media day brawl, and evolved in to death threats and name calling….