Daniel Cormier, the current UFC light heavyweight champion, is set to defend his title against Alexander Gustaffson this coming October 3 at the Toyota Center in Houston in the UFC 192 main event but it seems he was wishing his opponent was someone else- Jon Jones.
Such remarks would sound as a sort of disrespect on the part of Gustaffson but to the surprise of many, the Swedish mixed martial artist is technically wishing the same thing.
So, why has Jon Jones become that popular with DC and Gustaffson all of a sudden? Apparently, everything is tied up with the fact that Jones holds a win over the two.
Jon ‘Bones’ Jones was mainly responsible for handing Cormier his first career defeat, something which happened at UFC 182 back in January. The bout was a climactic ending that included a press conference hotel brawl between the two in August of 2014.
In short, the two hate each other and simply put, Cormier wants to avenge that loss.
On the other end, Gustaffson wants redemption himself after losing to Jones the year before. It was in 2013 when the Swede lost a unanimous decision to Bones at UFC 165 though many felt that Gustaffson did more damage than Jones.
"If I want to take the belt from anyone, it would be Jones. Not DC," says Gustaffson via the MMA Hour added.
Both will have to wait as far as getting their hands on Jones of course. Jones has been out since January dealing with legal issues. He was arrested last April on felony charges though all that could come to an end by September 29 when Jones appears before a New Mexico judge in a plea hearing.
Until that gets settled however, Cormier plans to run through his opponents and wait.
"Between him and I and the rest of the division, there's a divide. I think I can show that during the time that he's gone and while I'm holding onto the belt," Cormier said. "I need to beat these guys and I need to beat these guys impressively.
Either way, a rematch with either fighter would probably take place in 2016 assuming that Jones is able to get over the hump of his outside issues. And with that in mind, it will be interesting who gets first crack.
Well, an apparent answer to that is to see who comes out victorious at UFC 192 between Cormier and Gustaffson. That alone makes the tiff interesting since it is not simply about winning in Houston but a shot at redemption against a common foe in Jon Jones.