Daniel Cormier does not want to fight teammate Cain Velasquez. He’s said so on numerous occasions, adding that he’s working his way from the heavyweight division down to the 205-pound class.
He recently signed to fight Roy Nelson in a heavyweight bout at UFC 166 on Oct. 19 in Houston. That’s not an indication that he’s scuttling his light heavyweight plans. To the contrary, Nelson is just the next step towards 205… and a big one.
Cormier told UFC Tonight on Tuesday that Nelson would be his last fight at heavyweight, and should he win, he intends to try and cut the line, asking for an immediate title shot in his new weight class.
Jon Jones is the current UFC light heavyweight champion. He’ll put his belt on the line against Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165 on Sept. 21 in Toronto. Cormier wants to fight the winner.
Nelson, however, is no “gimmee” fight, but Cormier, in just his fourth year at as pro, is already an accomplished fighter.
Coming from an Olympic wrestling background, the 34-year-old fighter stepped into the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix as a replacement, only to win the tournament, scoring victories over Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Josh Barnett.
Moving over to the UFC upon Strikeforce’s demise, Cormier dominated former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir en route to a unanimous decision victory.
He currently has an unblemished 12-0 record in mixed martial arts, and with a win over the likes of Roy Nelson, it would be difficult to deny that if anyone were to deserve a title shot in their first bout in a weight class it would be Cormier.