Daniel Cormier doesn’t think Jon Jones is afraid of him

Chalk Daniel Cormier up as one of the most well-spoken fighters in recent memory if not ever. The guy has been around the block and he knows what he needs to do and what he needs to say to be in this position that he enjoys now (covered in Popeye’s).

Daniel Cormier is officially in the title picture at light heavyweight. Yes, Gus is going to be fighting Jones again if Jones beats Teixeira, but Cormier has options. He can take on the winner of Phil Davis/Anthony Johnson, he can wait, he can hope for an injury. As long as he fights and fights soon, he’s all good.

Oh yeah, he doesn’t think Jones is afraid of him either. This is what he said to MMAJunkie:

 “Listen, I’m 35 (years old) this month. I’m not going to sit on the shelf at this point. I feel great at this weight. I need a fight.”

“I don’t see the point in sitting out for, I mean, this is going to be a long time, if I was going to sit there and wait, I could potentially be 36 years old by the time I fight. Why would I waste a whole year of my career? I don’t have that luxury.”

 

“Gustafsson didn’t get his rematch (with Jones), he could have just waited, but instead, he fought,” Cormier said. “He’s fighting who they put in front of him, and I think that’s the situation that I’m going to be faced with.”

“If the UFC said, ‘Jon Jones is hurt, so fight Alexander Gustafsson,’ I’d say OK,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who these guys are. They’re not in my gym every day. They’re not Cain Velasquez, Kyle Kingsbury, Luke Rockhold, the guys that I train with every day. It doesn’t matter who they are. They can all come in the octagon and fight me.”

“Do I believe Jon Jones is afraid of me or Alexander Gustafsson? Not for a second. He’s defended that belt six times. Does he understand that right now, he’s going into the toughest three-fight stretch of his career? Probably, yes. I do believe he understands that.”