Daniel Cormier is slated to face heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic this summer in a much-anticipated champion vs champion match up. The fight announcement caused light-heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafson to take to Twitter. The two-time title challenger called out Cormier saying “stop running and fight me”. Gustafson wasn’t done yet though as he went back to Twitter to bring up Cormier’s recent KO loss to Jon Jones at UFC 214.
Dc u talk about the blachowicz fight?! What about when “someone” predicted the left kick and still u fell for it..
— Alexander Gustafsson (@AlexTheMauler) January 31, 2018
Cormier brushed off the tweet fairly lightly referring to Gustafson as a “pretty boy”. Cormier jokingly told Gustafson that this is what he should have been doing before he signed on to fight Miocic in order to receive the rematch he so desperately appears to want. Gustafson is currently on a two fight win streak since his split decision loss to Cormier.
Mojgani’s Analysis: Miocic vs Cormier is the fight to make. Gustafson has been sidelined with injuries again, and a two-fight win streak over Jan Blachowicz and Glover Texiera isn’t deserving of a title shot. Cormier is right in saying that Gustafson should have attempted to hype their rematch prior to him announcing he’s going up to fight the heavyweight champion.
Wednesday’s News Notebook
- Jacare thinks he has earned the next shot at the middleweight title.
UFC Charlotte’s main event served as a rematch of a StrikeForce bout between Jacare and Derek Brunson. In their first match up Souza won by a first round KO. History would repeat itself in Charlotte as Jacare defeated Brunson once again in the first round by KO. It was a great win for Jacare who has battled injuries the past year and even contemplated retirement at one point. This fight also marked his first MMA appearance out of the X-Gym. In regards to what was next for him, Jacare campaigned for a title shot. Souza told MMAFighting, ”They are always complicating things for me,” Souza said. “(Luke) Rockhold just beat David Branch, who came from another promotion, and is fighting for the belt. The criteria is different with me, I always have to fight one more time. I honestly think that I have to fight one more, but why only me? Rockhold just beat Branch, man, and is fighting for an interim belt? Do you get what I’m saying?”
Mojgani’s Analysis: Jacare put on a great performance in the octagon at UFC Charlotte and showed he still has a lot of fight left. Unfortunately, the UFC’s middleweight division is stocked with great talent. I don’t believe he deserves a title shot just yet, but a potential match-up versus Chris Weidman is very interesting. Both men are looking at getting back to the top, and have been dealing with injuries that have kept them out of the cage. It would be a great fight to build momentum for whomever would win.
- Kevin Lee wants a Nate Diaz fight, or “washed up Alvarez”
This week on the MMA Hour, Kevin Lee dismissed the claims of Eddie Alvarez to a Nate Diaz fight and said that Diaz belongs to him. On the show, Lee said, “I see what Eddie’s trying to do, but I think the man’s just got it all wrong.” “I think the fans, they don’t want to see who’s the biggest name against the biggest name. It’s who’s the best. So, if we’re going from a sporting perspective, I gotta throw my hat in the ring versus Diaz. I think that’s the fight to make. That’s a fight that I’ve been pushing for. That’s a fight that I’m going to talk my talk and I’m going to keep going. But from every other perspective other than a fun fight, that’s the fight to make.”
Mojgani’s Analysis: Kevin Lee is a great fighter, but the one thing he might be even better at is talking himself into big fights. We have seen him do it before with Tony Ferguson. If anyone was going to lure Nate Diaz into a fight it would be Lee. That said, I believe Lee’s real intentions were to get under the skin of Eddie Alvarez and secure a fight with him.
- Anthony Pettis vs Michael Chiesa verbally commit for UFC 223.
Both lightweights Anthony “Showtime” Pettis and Michael Chiesa have agreed to fight on April 7th at the Barclay Center in New York at UFC 223. Both men are looking to bounce back from submission losses. The former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis was submitted by Dustin Poirier in his last outing. Michael Chiesa suffered a rear-naked-choke loss to Kevin Lee this past summer. They’re both desperate for a win that is much needed if they wish to climb the rankings of a stacked lightweight division.
Mojgani’s Analysis: Pettis vs Chiesa has a lot on the line for both men. “Showtime” has struggled to put together a win streak since losing his title to RDA and has bounced around between the lightweight and featherweight divisions. Pettis needs a good showing to prove he has a run left. Chiesa is looking to get back to the winning side of things after Lee snapped his win streak and a victory over the former champion would be a nice addition to his resume.
NOW CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS NEWS: WEDNESDAY NEWS DIGEST 1/24: Nate Diaz teases his return to the UFC (w/ Heydorn’s analysis)
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