Daniel Cormier wants you to know something: He is the UFC light heavyweight champion. No ifs, ands or asterisks about it.
After submitting Anthony Johnson on Saturday at UFC 187 to capture the belt, Cormier apparently felt a need to defend himself from claims that he was not the “true” champ. To be fair, those claims appear to have some merit, given that Cormier lost convincingly to the previous champ, Jon Jones, who only relinquished the title because of his recent suspension.
But Jones being out of the picture doesn’t diminish Cormier‘s championship, at least not in the eyes of Cormier himself.
“You know what, man? I would love to fight Jon again, and hopefully beat Jon. But when they put that belt around my waist, I was the UFC champion,” Cormier said Monday in an interview with broadcaster Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour program. “They don’t just give away those titles, man. They didn’t say ‘hey, Daniel, here’s your interim title.’ They said ‘you are the lineal UFC champion.’ … When you look in the record books, there will be no asterisk.”
Smiling from ear to ear throughout the interview, the new champ (16-1) took a few shots (veiled and otherwise) at the disgraced former MMA kingpin, saying that he would welcome another fight with Jones if Jones does indeed return to the UFC.
“I think Saturday showed how special the kid really is if he can get himself and everything else in order,” Cormier said. “To have beaten me, and then what I did to Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson, that’s crazy, man. … He doesn’t want to see me carrying what he probably feels is still his title. And it isn’t; it’s mine.”
Cormier took the opportunity to indirectly compare himself with Jones, indicating that being a role model is an important part of being a champion.
“I will represent this sport in the best light possible,” Cormier said. “I won’t mess it up. I won’t get myself in any trouble. I’m going to live my life the correct way. I’m going to be a champion the kids can look up to and hopefully aspire to be like.”
Cormier also saved a few choice words for Ryan Bader, who has been actively lobbying for the next title shot and who traded salvos with Cormier during the UFC 187 post-event news conference.
“Ryan Bader has done something unbelievably spectacular: He’s gotten everyone to talk about him,” Cormier said. “It’s amazing that Ryan Bader‘s name is coming off of someone’s tongue. … Ryan Bader, you’re next, bud. You’re going to get exactly what you wanted. I hope you make a good fight of it, because if you don’t, you’re going to get embarrassed.”
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