Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will attempt to make history at UFC 226 on July 7, 2018 when he faces off against current Heavyweight kingpin, Stipe Miocic.
With a win, “DC” will become only the second UFC fighter ever to hold two separate division titles simultaneously. And though Alexander Gustafsson — who was seemingly next to Cormier at 205-pounds — was initially upset at the booking of the “super fight,” he acknowledges that the fight will be an entertaining one.
And just because Daniel is going in as the smaller fighter, it doesn’t mean he can’t pull out the victory.
“He did good, he didn’t lose as a heavyweight. He is good. He lifted (Josh Barnett) up like nothing,” explained Alex during a recent interview on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast.
“This fight against Stipe, if it was against another heavyweight I would probably say Stipe is going to win. But ‘DC’ is a really good heavyweight, so we will see what happens. He is world class, doesn’t take a step back and he is in your face.”
“He’s a badass, but ‘DC’ is such a competitive guy. He goes for it, in tough situations he eats it and comes right back and does what he does, always. And for being a fat guy, that guy is doing five rounds like nothing. So his conditioning is on top.”
Friendly fire?
It’s no secret Cormier likes his cake and chicken, and now that he’ll be fighting in the land of the big men once again his calorie intake has increased quite a bit. That said, he has gone the distance with relative ease in four of his Heavyweight bouts. Plus he’s an Olympic wrestler, so his conditioning has never been an issue.
Whether his cardio will be up to snuff when he faces the most dominant UFC heavyweight of all time, remains to be seen.