Daniel Cormier needs a huge bounce back win if he hopes to keep his name in the UFC light heavyweight title discussion and who better to fight than Alexander Gustafsson?
Gustafsson just took a tough loss to Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson but he’s still considered to be Jon Jones’ toughest opponent. If DC could show that he can beat Gus then he’d have a legit shot at a Jon Jones rematch.
Here’s what DC had to say about his next fight:
“He’s got the biggest name,” Cormier said of Gustafsson on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “We’re both coming off of a loss. So it would make sense. If that’s the case, if they say Daniel, you and Alexander fight, and the winner will get a title shot against Anthony or Jon, then, yes.”
He went on to discuss whether he’d call out an opponent or waiting for one to be delegated by the UFC:
“I’ve never once picked a fight,” he said. “UFC has always called me and said, ‘Daniel you’re fighting this guy.’ when I fought Jon for the belt, I had fought Patrick Cumminsand Dan Henderson, but [Cummins] was supposed to be Rashad Evans, my first fight in the division was supposed to be Rashad Evans, so they always tell me. I never turn down a fight. If I was going to turn down any, it would have been Rashad because we’re buddies.”
The Rashad fight seems like a winnable fight for DC and would definitely put his right back in the conversation for a title shot. His body type also matches up better with Rashad than Alex. Regardless of whom he fights Cormier knows it must be someone of worth.
“It needs to be guy with name recognition,” Cormier said. “So where the people say, ‘ok Daniel beat this guy, we need to see him either fight for the championship again, or he’s very close. Because to me Alexander and I, realistically, are two guys who could fight for the belt. Once you get past us, and Rashad, they’re all rematches. past them who you going to put in the cage with Jon?”
Hopefully we get an announcement on DC’s opponent real soon.
