UFC light heavyweight Ryan Bader wasted no time making his case for a shot at the title, getting into a shouting match with new champion Daniel Cormier at his post-UFC 187 press conference. Despite the roiling tensions though, it appears Bader is being passed over for Alexander Gustafsson.
Cormier himself has confirmed that his first light heavyweight title defense will come against Gustafsson; originally it was believed the fight would happen at UFC 191, but that’s no longer the case according to the champ.
Fighting Gustafsson not ufc 191. # andstill
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) June 4, 2015
The move is a minor surprise. Gustafsson has a bigger name than Bader, but he is coming off a one-sided loss to Anthony “Rumble” Johnson in his last fight, and Johnson was just beaten by Cormier. Bader is also on a hot streak having won his last four fights. In addition, Bader was scheduled to face Cormier not long after UFC 187, only to have that fight cancelled so Cormier could replace Jon Jones in the title fight.
Gustafsson has lost two of his last three fights, although his UFC 165 loss to Jones was disputed by some, and one of the best fights in UFC history.
Bader has been calling out Cormier in the media since UFC 187, going as far as to say Cormier doesn’t deserve his title. "DC has had the easiest road to the title. If you look at who he's fought at 205lbs, it's Patrick Cummins and Dan Henderson, who happens to be a 185lb fighter. Then, he gets thrown in there with Jon Jones and gets beat," Bader said.
"He gets gifted another chance at it and fights Anthony Johnson - who is a beast, don't get me wrong - but if there's any knock on Johnson, it's his Jiu-Jitsu and ground game, which is kind of Cormier's best attributes. Cormier is the most arrogant champion, and the least deserving."
Unfortunately for Bader, he’ll have to wait for his chance to prove he can beat “DC.”
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