One of the most memorable moments from the final Strikeforce event that took place on Saturday night in Oklahoma City was the statement made by Daniel Cormier (11-0) following his win over Dion Staring (28-8).
“Right now, I’m telling you. April 20 on Fox, I signed my UFC contract. Frank Mir, you and me. Let’s do it,” Cormier said immediately following the fight to Pat Miletich. “I’m gonna let Jon [Jones] defend his belt April 27 and I’m gonna kick ass in the fall.”
The highly touted 33-year-old UFC-bound heavyweight showed a ton of confidence in himself with those comments. I suppose if you’ve won all of your professional fights, which include defeats of Antonio Silva and Josh Barnett, you’d be feeling pretty good about yourself.
While many fans may have rolled their eyes at the notion of Cormier being able to compete with Jones, Cormier does realize he needs to actually sign a UFC contract first.
“Nothing’s been signed. This is just what I’ve said in my ideal universe, that’s what would happen as this year goes on. It could not happen; if it doesn’t, I’ll just keep on plugging away,” Cormier told the media at the post-fight press conference.
Cormier continued with an explanation as to why he called out Jones while also giving a reason, albeit a weird one, with regard to not wanting to fight Dan Henderson.
The reason I said I’d fight [Jones] in the fall is I’d need some time to get that weight down. I’m comfortable at 230 right now, but that’s still 25 more pounds. I’d need some time to make weight and I don’t want to fight at 205 because I don’t want to fight Dan Henderson, I’ve kind of got a man-crush on Dan Henderson.
As far as fighting Frank Mir to start his UFC career, Cormier believes it’s the only fight that makes sense. “Most of the other guys are tied up, and pretty much everyone is scheduled to fight in the division. Why not? We were supposed to fight already. It’s a good fight, and I think people would watch the fight. We could sell the fight, Frank and I, and make some money.”
Joe Chacon is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report and a staff writer for Operation Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @JoeChacon.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com