Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier wants fights that make sense for his weight class, because the only way to keep mixed martial arts (MMA) more sport than spectacle is by maintaining the integrity of each division.
Perhaps he missed some of this year’s top headlines.
Conor McGregor was afforded a pair of welterweight fights before making a single title defense at 145 pounds, while CM Punk wrangled himself a pay-per-view (PPV) bout without ever competing in combat sports. Oh, and some old dude who hasn’t won back-to-back contests in five years just earned a middleweight title shot.
Welcome to UFC.
As for Cormier’s latest gripe? It seems UFC President Dana White is considering a light heavyweight showdown between longtime nemesis Jon Jones and top contender Anthony Johnson, a bout that was originally slated for UFC 187 in early 2015. If and when it comes to fruition, “Bones” may be able to once again call himself interim champion.
A “stupid” decision, according to Cormier’s conversation with Brian Stann (via MMA Fighting):
“Now one thing I completely disagree with, completely — and I don’t care who hears it — why in the hell would Jon still be the interim champion? That makes no sense at all. I don’t even know why he would still be the interim champion. His ass was disqualified. Take that freakin’ belt off of him. That’s stupid. I hope to God Dana misspoke, because that makes absolutely no sense. If they fight, they fight to determine the number one contender, it’s not some interim championship fight. That makes no sense at all. You’d have an interim champion defending the interim championship while the actual champion is actually still there. That makes no sense whatsoever.”
The audio:
Belts! Belts for everyone!
Jones has been holding the division hostage for the past 18 months. After a hit-and-run accident sidelined him for a year — and stripped him of the light heavyweight title — “Bones” was popped by United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) just days before his Cormier rematch at UFC 200.
Sandwiched between those incidents was an uninspired decision win over Ovince Saint Preux at UFC 197.
As of now, there is no timetable for his return and Jones still has to avoid a suspension from USADA. In addition, the promotion has yet to reveal if “Bones” remains the interim champion — a title he captured with the “OSP” win — as Cormier awaits his next assignment.
Still lots of pieces to this 205-pound puzzle.
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