LAS VEGAS — It didn’t happen the way he wanted the first time around. And maybe the second time around isn’t exactly what he’d envisioned, either, after he lost to Jon Jones in January.
But Daniel Cormier spent a lifetime dreaming of being a world champion wrestler, and then fell short when his chance came. And he was soundly beaten by Jones, and it’s a certainty that Cormier, after all of the talking and the beef and the brawl and the anger, would have much rather taken the championship from around the waist of Jones himself.
But Jones isn’t around, and that isn’t Cormier’s fault. Jones is on the sidelines because of his inability to get his act together. We can rehash all of that until the cows come home, but the point is this: Cormier is the new UFC light heavyweight champion, and he is the rightful UFC champion until Jones proves he is deserving of a place as a competitor in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Cormier survived an early onslaught from the terrifying Anthony “Rumble” Johnson to become the new champion in Jones’ absence. He was dropped early, and for a few seconds there, well, it felt like Rumble was going to claim another victim with his ridiculous power. His kicks to Cormier’s head, mostly blocked by the former Olympian’s hands, resounded throughout the arena.
Sitting here cageside, 20 feet away from the action, they sent a dreadful feeling deep into the pit of your stomach. The punch that sent Cormier reeling made the same sound.
But when Cormier finished stumbling, he stood up, and he went to work. The bloodthirsty fans in the MGM Grand Garden Arena claim to be mixed martial arts fans, but what they actually wanted was just a standup war.
When Cormier pressed Johnson against the cage wall, they booed. When he put Johnson on his back in the second round and methodically wore him out with ground-and-pound and kimura attempts, they booed. But when he secured the rear-naked choke that would finish the job in the third round, they cheered.
Cormier rose to his feet and smiled, lifting his arms in the air. When Dana White strapped the belt around his waist and Bruce Buffer announced him as the new world champion, his smile grew even wider.
No longer just a contender. Finally a champion.
And then Cormier turned his savvy and attention to setting up a future rematch with Jones, telling the former champion to get his s–t together and come back, because Cormier is waiting for him. It was an effective use of microphone time, especially in an industry where so many fighters don’t understand the power of that interview spot.
And the truth is, until Jones comes back, many will consider Cormier an interim champion. They are incorrect, of course, because Cormier did not force Jones to unspool his personal life. Jones did all of that. But still, Cormier must beat Jones in order to solidify what he accomplished, because Jones is the greatest fighter in the history of the sport and will remain so for a very long time.
There has never been a Jones, there will never be another Jones, and until such moment comes as he’s actually dethroned, there will always be unfinished business for Cormier.
But all of that will (or will not) come in the future, when Jones comes back, if he comes back. This moment and this night belong to Cormier, who finally has the gold he began searching for as a seventh-grader growing up in Louisiana.
Jeremy Botter covers mixed martial arts for Bleacher Report.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com