Get Back in Line Daniel Cormier, Alexander Gustafsson Wants His Rightful Shot at Jon Jones
Daniel Cormier was a late replacement for Alexander Gustafsson when an injury forced the Swede out of his UFC 178 rematch with light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
On Tuesday, it was revealed that Jones had suffered an injury, forcing the fight with Cormier off of the UFC 178 card.
SEE ALSO: Jon Jones Out of UFC 178 with Injury
To Cormier’s good fortune, however, UFC officials rescheduled the bout for UFC 182 on Jan. 3, 2015, which should give Jones plenty of time to heal his injured ankle.
Cormier, of course, is happy. The man he replaced, however, is not. Gustafsson is steaming mad.
“I just heard the news that Jones is injured and the fight is rescheduled to January 3????” Gustafsson wrote on Facebook after finding out about Jones vs. Cormier remaining intact. “Until then, I will be more than ready, it was MY fight to begin with and I WANT the fight as the number 1 contender. End of story!!”
When he found out about Jones pulling out of the Sept. 27 fight, Cormier initially worried that he would lose his title bid back to Gustafsson for the same reason that the Swede is irked about.
“There were a lot of questions whenever I initially heard that (Jones) was out of the fight. You gotta remember that I replaced Alexander Gustafsson,” said Cormier on Tuesday on America’s Pregame show on Fox Sports 1. “So when I heard that Jon was hurt, now him and Gustafsson are now on the same schedule in order to be healthy. So my first question was, I don’t have to go behind Gustafsson now, right?
“And I was assured it’s going to be me in January, not Gustafsson. He’s not going to take my place.”
UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta, said Cormier, is the man that reassured him that the fight in January would still be Jones vs. Cormier for belt.
That didn’t sit well with Gustafsson, who, like many others, doesn’t believe that Jones and Cormier hyping their fight with an impromptu brawl during a recent media day appearance should lend any additional credence to keeping the fight on track.
SEE ALSO: Video of Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier Brawl
He earned his title shot by taking Jones the distance in the toughest fight of the champion’s career, winning a headlining bout over the previously undefeated Jimi Manuwa on the Londoner’s home turf, and then waiting for Jones to dispatch of Glover Teixeira.
An unfortunately timed torn meniscus forced him out of the bout, and now, despite another injury postponing Jones vs. Cormier to where it would fit Gustafsson’s timeline to be healthy, he’ll still have to wait for his return shot at the title.
It isn’t difficult to understand Gustafsson’s frustration, and he isn’t shy about expressing his anger.
“Apparently UFC thinks that acting like clowns on a press conference will hype a fight more than doing the fight of the century, that's ridiculous!!!”
