Daniel Cormier’s side duties might delay potential rematch with Rumble
UFC News – Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier is expanding his horizons beyond the Octagon.
The decorated Olympic-level wrestler has been pegged to join Jon Anik to handle color commentary for the upcoming UFC Fight Night 96 event on Oct. 1, 2016, in Portland, Ore., for FOX Sports 1, which features a Bantamweight showdown between John Dodson and John Lineker (details) in the main event of the evening. As a result, Cormier will be unable to defend his 205-pound title at the upcoming UFC 205 pay-per-view (PPV) event that set to blow the roof of Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y., on Nov. 12, 2016.
As Cormier told Fox Sports, before he accepts a fight he needs to have at least 12 weeks to prepare, which means he has to put all of his other side gigs on the backburner.
“I don’t control the fights,” he said. “I show up when they tell me. I said, ‘OK, we can fight, but it’s not going to be November.’ I’ve got this play-by-play gig and other things to do before I start training. You can ask anybody — when I start training, there’s no more ‘UFC Tonight.’ I just start training. I want 10, 12 weeks to feel confident about a fight.”
It was widely assumed that Anthony Johnson would get another crack at trying to win the 205-pound title against “DC” after walking right through Glover Teixeira at UFC 202 (see it again here); however, UFC never actually confirmed that rematch or Cormier’s participation at UFC 205 despite “DC” expressing interest.
That said, one would think “Rumble” would have no qualms in holding off a bit longer to take on Cormier in December should he be awarded the fight. Looking ahead, UFC 206 and UFC 207 are scheduled to take place in December, so one can assume Cormier will be defending his title on one of those cards.
Category: Mixed Martial Arts
