Last weekend, former Strikeforce heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier finally made his long-promised drop to 205 lbs. At UFC 170 Cormier made his light heavyweight debut with a first round KO of UFC newcomer Patrick Cummins. With his first venture into the lower weight class out of the way, Cormier is already looking toward his next challenge.
In an appearance on Wednesday’s episode of UFC Tonight, Cormier discussed his options. According to Daniel, if Alexander Gustafsson beats Jimi Manuwa on March 8 at UFC Fight Night 37 he deserves the next crack at the strap. In that case, he’d like to face the winner of Anthony Johnson vs. Phil Davis at UFC 172.
However, if Manuwa manages to pull off the upset against Gustafsson, Cormier says he should be the next one to fight for the light heavyweight belt. With their history of trash talk, he’s obviously hoping to fight current champion Jon Jones who’s scheduled to fight Glover Teixeira at UFC 172.
Regardless of how Gustafsson and Manuwa’s fight plays out, Cormier said he plans to stay in shape, hoping to step in as an injury replacement should the opportunity arise (via MMA Fighting):
“I guess I stay ready and if someone gets injured, the fight makes sense,” Cormier said at the UFC 170 post-fight press conference. “I’ll fight anytime. They’ve got some big fights coming up. If anybody gets hurt, they can give me a call.”