Daniel Cormier felt bad for Ryan Bader after he got passed over for title shot
When Kenny Florian asked UFC president Dana White about the next opponent for Daniel Cormier on the most recent edition of "UFC Tonight" on FOX Sports 1, the newly crowned light heavyweight champion had an idea who it would be but that didn't save him from the shock just about everybody felt when it was confirmed.
White revealed that former title challenger Alexander Gustafsson would receive the first crack at Cormier's belt later this year instead of Ryan Bader, who is riding a four fight win streak while also holding a rather large grudge against the new champion. Gustafsson, on the other hand, was just finished by Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson in the first round of his last fight in January.
Cormier and Bader nearly came to blows following the close of UFC 187 as the two fighters squared off at the post fight press conference before security intervened. With Bader's recent wins coupled by his growing rivalry with Cormier, the title fight seemed like a no brainer until White dropped the bomb that Gustafsson would be the person receiving the shot.
"I kind of had an idea," Cormier told FOX Sports on Friday about Gustafsson being his next opponent. "Just because if the Bader thing was going to happen, we would have got some traction or some wind of it. I kind of started looking at the rankings like what could they possibly do if it's not going to be Bader?
"I just beat 'Rumble' so obviously I'm not going to face 'Rumble' again, but honestly Gustafsson didn't come to mind because of the way he had just lost so I thought it has to be Ryan. All logic said it was going to be Bader, but sometimes things don't work out the way you expect them to I guess."
As much as Cormier disliked the altercation with Bader following his title fight win at UFC 187, he still thought the former All-American wrestler deserved the next shot at the belt considering he had the best win streak of any contender currently ranked in the top 10.
Cormier believes Gustafsson receiving the shot despite being knocked out in his last bout is the clearest indication possible that maybe the UFC just didn't feel comfortable putting Bader in the spotlight of a title fight.
"Honestly, I do I feel bad for him," Cormier said about Bader. "You know what that almost tells me, honestly? It almost doesn't matter what he does in any situation regardless of what's going on, it will be hard for him to get a title fight.
"Because if there was a situation where he was going to get one, this would be it."
Cormier says by all standards, Bader did everything he needed to do to get the call for a title shot. He's won four fights in a row against solid competition and when you add in his near brawl with Cormier following UFC 187 there was even a personal beef to help sell the bout.
None of that ultimately mattered and Cormier understands why Bader is probably upset right now.
"Everything was there. From his press conference stunt to him being the only guy in the division on a win streak, if I was Ryan and his team I'd be pretty bummed out right now actually," Cormier said.
Now that Cormier knows he's facing Gustafsson, the next course of action is choosing a date and location for the fight to take place.
Cormier is currently nursing a few nagging injuries following back-to-back championship fight camps after preparing for Jon Jones and Anthony Johnson in consecutive five-round bouts within five months time.
Right now, the new champion wants to heal his body, allow his already injured knee some time to recover and then he'll begin looking towards an October showdown with Gustafsson.
"I'd love to fight again soon, but realistically the date I would love is October in Houston," Cormier said when speaking about UFC 192 on October 3. "That would be ideal for me. I have some things I need to take care of physically. In the last year and a half, I've fought four times, I'm probably one of the most active guys in the UFC and as you know before the initial (Jon) Jones fight I had some knee issues and did some treatment to it to get through the second training camp and the fight. During this last camp for 'Rumble' my knee started acting up again so I'm going to get that checked out.
"Once I do that I should be ready to go. October would be ideal. A little bit of time to get myself physically ready and then I'll go. As soon as I'm healthy, I'll fight. I just don't want to fight hurt anymore. I've been fighting hurt for a long time. 10 days before I fought Dan Henderson I was on crutches because of my knee. I hope to fight around October."
