UFC light-heavyweight division Daniel Cormier has made it clear that he doesn’t exactly have his heart set on fighting Volkan Oezdemir next.
A fight between the two is believed to have been in the works for some time, but with Oezdemir having just been charged with aggravated battery in relation to a physical altercation outside a bar back in August, its uncertain whether he will still be under consideration for the title opportunity.
As such, Cormier’s eye is now starting to cast towards other potential title challengers, and he’s willing to take on whoever the UFC puts in front of him.
“Of course, I’d fight any of these guys,” Cormeir stated on the Anik & Florian podcast. “It doesn’t matter. [Oezdemir’s] on the longest win streak in the division so he was getting the title shot but if this trouble is gonna keep him out of the opportunity, I’ll just go to the next guy. So of course I’d fight [Alexander] Gustafsson and someone told me yesterday that Team Ovince Saint Preux was like, ‘We want a title fight because we’ve got a good winning streak too.’
“Whoever is winning gets the title shot, that’s just the way it is. I don’t care who it is.”
However, Cormier also added that if it is Gustafsson then the fight may have to be pushed back until later than the UFC 220 event in Boston this coming January that he’d originally been targeting.
“Alexander Gustafsson was never gonna be right now anyway, I think he may be dealing with some things. If it has to be him then I guess the fight will be a little bit later in the year, but I’d love to compete in Boston.”