At the UFC 187 post-fight press conference last night a heated exchange broke out between new light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and Ryan Bader who was in the audience.
Bader had originally been set to fight Cormier before ‘DC’ was called in to replace Jon Jones against Anthony Johnson and the No.5 ranked contender was keen to stake his claim for the next shot at the title.
Cormier had hinted on-stage that with Jon Jones still dealing with his legal issues that he may have to look for another opponent next, and without mentioning his name directly implied that Bader could be next in his sights.
That was Bader’s cue to start jawing at Cormier from the sidelines, offering to fight him right there and then.
“This guy’s so disrespectful,” Cormier responded. “I’m trying to fight Anthony Johnson, and Ryan Bader is writing me stupid messages on Twitter because he thinks he deserves a title shot. C’mon Ryan. You can come and fight me, you can get your ass kicked.”
Bader marched his way up towards the stage, but was stopped from getting into a physical confrontation with his rival. Instead Bader was accusing ‘DC’ of ducking him in the past, but Cormier had the last word on the matter.
“Not once did I say I don’t want to fight Ryan Bader,” Cormier said. “I just wanted an easy paycheck. I asked to fight you multiple times, bitch I asked to fight you. They said Daniel, what do you want, I said I want the easiest fight in the division, Ryan Bader.”
Watch the confrontation for yourselves below.
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