Daniel Cormier would ask UFC for Jones over Gustafsson if ex-champ's legal issues clear

UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier hopes deposed champ Jon Jones gets clear of the legal issues facing him, because he’d rather fight that rematch than face Alexander Gustafsson, a recent title challenger, at UFC 192.

“If Gus and I are scheduled to fight and Jones was back and Jones was eligible to compete, I would ask (the UFC),” he today told MMAjunkie. “I would ask if there’s any way we could get this rematch done, and Alex fight someone else.

“That’s the fight that you want. Any guy in the division would give you the same answer to that question.”

Jones (21-1 MMA, 15-1 UFC) remains indefinitely suspended following an alleged hit-and-run incident in April that resulted in the UFC stripping his light heavyweight title prior to a title fight with Anthony Johnson (19-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) in May at UFC 187. Cormier (16-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC), who was outpointed by Jones in January at UFC 182, was tapped to fight Johnson for the vacant belt and won via third-round submission.

Jones faces a felony charge of leaving the scene of an accident, which resulted in a 25-year-old woman suffering a broken arm.

The bitter rivalry between Jones and Cormier is well-known, but Cormier said today that he’s no longer motivated by the same force that propelled him in the cage against the now ex-champ.

“It’s not even the name,” Cormier said. “It’s not him. It’s about he beat me, and I would love to correct that.”

And yet, the champ said he’s there to fight the opponents offered to him by the UFC, which tapped onetime title challenger Gustafsson (16-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) for the Oct. 3 event at Houston’s Toyota Center despite a previous knockout loss to Johnson.

Cormier said he expected to meet Ryan Bader in his first title defense and initially thought the selection of Gustafsson, who tested Jones in 2013 despite a decision loss, was “a head-scratcher.”

Cormier and Bader appeared to be on their way to booking a fight when they were separated by UFC officials after Bader interrupted the champ at a press conference following his win over Johnson.

“Ryan Bader fighting for a championship is a little weird,” Cormier said. “But he had won four fights in a row. But when they said Gustafsson, more people know who Gustafsson is and more people remember him for what he did against Jones. So it made a little more sense.”

And with a pivotal matchup now booked between Bader and ex-champ Rashad Evans at UFC 192, Cormier said “there’s some direction” to the UFC’s light heavyweight division after Jones’ departure earlier this year.

Cormier said Jones has taken the right approach in staying away from the spotlight while the legal process continues, but added, “we have to move forward. We can’t allow his shadow to stay over the division.

“We can’t wait for him. We have to continue to fight, because at the end of the day, you’re still watching some of the most skilled athletes in the world compete for a championship.”

But if Jones somehow is able to get clear of the trouble in front of him, Cormier thinks the UFC shouldn’t wait to put them into the cage again.

“If he is allowed back to fight, I think Jones deserves to be fighting for the title right away,” he said.

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