Daniel Cormier very well could defend his light heavyweight championship before fighting Brock Lesnar.
“DC” won the heavyweight championship at UFC 226 this past weekend (Sat. July 7, 2018) when he defeated Stipe Miocic via first round knockout. After the fight Cormier was confronted by Brock Lesnar in a shoving match, before UFC President Dana White announced that the next heavyweight championship bout will be Cormier vs. Lesnar.
Despite his upcoming mega-fight with Lesnar, Cormier also has duties as the UFC’s light heavyweight champion. He could very well defend his 205-pound throne before jumping back up to heavyweight to fight Lesnar.
In a recent interview on The Ariel Helwani MMA Show, Cormier said that there’s one fight that does interest him at 205 pounds – and it’s not the winner of Alexander Gustafsson vs. Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 227. Instead, “DC” would like to face 36-year-old former champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (via MMA Mania):
“Maybe I’ll go fight Shogun, that would be good. I am serious, maybe I will go fight Shogun. He has won a lot of fights in a row,” said Cormier.
“You know what? That’s who I want to fight, if Shogun wins, I want to fight Shogun. That’s who I’m fighting. I will go fight Shogun because he is a legend, he’s a great guy. I will go fight Shogun and then I will fight Brock Lesnar because Jones isn’t going to be back, I don’t think. I am at peace with that,” he stated.
What are your thoughts on Cormier wanting to fight Shogun before Lesnar? Let us know in the comments!
