Daniel Cormier just announced his next challenger for his UFC light heavyweight title. The champion had been trying to narrow down a list of possible opponents, but was still trying to come to a decision a few days ago.
“Oezdemir has looked phenomenal in this run. He beat Ovince Saint-Preux the he knocked out [Misha] Cirkunov and knocked out Jimi Manuwa, who was scheduled as a replacement for me and Jones,” Cormier said while doing the post fight show for UFC Fight Night Pittsburgh. “Gustafsson has always been tough. Gustafsson gave me a very tough time the first time but you have to remember for as good as Gustafsson looked in the [Glover] Teixeira fight when he fought Jan Blachowicz, he did not look that good. So if you’re telling me there’s a chance he fights like he fought against Jan Blachowicz, give me Gustafsson.”
Currently the two main challengers are Alexander Gustafsson and Volkan Oezdemir, both of which have looked very impressive in recent outings. Cormier and Gustafsson fought once before at UFC 192 in an absolutely incredible war that pushed Cormier to his limits. Following his win over Glover Teixeira, Gustafsson was actually hoping to get another crack at Jon Jones. He called out Jones on Twitter after his win over Cormier and threw another jab at him for trying to fight Brock Lesnar instead of top contenders.
“@JonnyBones congrats Champ. Stop asking for retired fighters, I’ve been waiting to put my hands on you and so have all the fans.”
@JonnyBones congrats Champ. Stop asking for retired fighters, I've been waiting to put my hands on you and so have all the fans.
— Alexander Gustafsson (@AlexTheMauler) July 30, 2017
However, Jones is no longer in the title discussion after failing his drug test for steroids, getting stripped of the title, and his win over Cormier being ruled a “no contest” by the athletic commission.
In the meantime, D.C. asked the fans who they want him to fight next and the answer he received was Volkan Oezdemir. The champ jumped on his Twitter to announce the news.
“@volkan_oezdemir I asked and people wanna see u and I scrap. So you got it man! Let me figure a date now. They chose u bud! Congrats”
@volkan_oezdemir I asked and people wanna see u and I scrap. So you got it man! Let me figure a date now. They chose u bud! Congrats
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) September 28, 2017
