Daniel Cormier will once again get a shot at the UFC light heavyweight championship at UFC 187, but the circumstances are a whole lot different this time around. Instead of facing the champion Jon Jones, he will be fighting Anthony Johnson for a vacant title after Jones was suspended. Last week, former title challenger Chael Sonnen spoke about the situation on his podcast, ‘You’re Welcome with Chael Sonnen’. And well, Chael was being Chael:
“If you accept the title when you didn’t beat him, you’re a punk. I would never put a belt around my waist knowing the guy five feet away from me is the true owner of it.”
Cormier is usually pretty professional, but he’s not the type of guy to let a comment like that pass. So on The MMA Hour this week, he responded to Sonnen’s comments (via MMA Fighting):
“I think he would in a heartbeat. That’s the thing about Chael, that’s what you have to realize when you get to know him. A lot of times he’s just talking.
“He would have taken this opportunity very quickly. Just like he did to fight Jon when he had come off a loss to Anderson Silva in the second fight. He will always take those opportunities. That’s just him talking.”
“Put the belt next to Chael Sonnen and see,” Cormier said. “Today, he’ll wear the belt, even though he doesn’t fight anymore. You can go ‘Chael, here you go.’ This is a guy who paraded around with a fake belt after getting submitted by Anderson. He said ‘this is my belt,’ even though Anderson submitted him. You’ve got to think of who you’re talking to. Remember the source.”
Obligatory photo here:
Jones’ manager Malki Kawa also said on the same episode of the MMA Hour that Jones might never fight again, so that makes Chael’s punk comments even less noteworthy if true. UFC 187 goes down May 23rd in Las Vegas.
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