Daniel Cormier is the UFC’s “Champ Champ,” but that will come to an end before the end of the year.
Cormier captured the UFC heavyweight championship this past summer with a knockout win over Stipe Miocic. He will defend his strap against Derrick Lewis in the main event of this weekend’s (Sat. November 3, 2018) UFC 230 pay-per-view (PPV). However, come December 29th he will be stripped of his 205-pound championship.
Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson will go one-on-one in the main event of UFC 232. The winner of the bout will be crowned the new light heavyweight champion, with Cormier being stripped once the fight begins. However, a new contender at 205 pounds has emerged.
Anthony “Lionheart” Smith picked up a big submission win over the weekend against former light heavyweight title challenger Volkan Oezdemir. One noticeable aspect of Smith’s performance, however, was how gassed he was after the third round, which he won. This was extremely evident to Cormier, who spoke to “The Ariel Helwani MMA Show” recently.
Cormier said that if Smith doesn’t improve his cardio, he has “no chance” against the likes of himself, Jon Jones, and Alexander Gustafsson (via Sherdog):
“He had to get carried out of the Octagon after three rounds?” Cormier said. “That’s crazy. If you get that tired, you have no chance against me. Honestly, if he fights Jones and he gets that tired, he is in trouble.
“You cannot get that tired. If I have any advice for Anthony Smith going forward; Jones, Gustafsson and myself, you have got to be pushing the cardio because we are going to be pushing the whole time.
“Gustafsson made me work for 25 minutes, Jon Jones made me work for 25, and then 15 minutes the last time we fought. You cannot be able to go 10 or 12 minutes and get that tired, you just can’t.
“He’s got to really get himself, get used to or better at going at a long fight. When you get to the top of 205, they are the best in the entire world regardless of weight class. You better be ready. He fought well against Volkan, but that type of performance will not get it done against any of us.”
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