{"id":272389,"date":"2018-03-13T11:05:42","date_gmt":"2018-03-13T18:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=272389"},"modified":"2018-03-13T11:05:42","modified_gmt":"2018-03-13T18:05:42","slug":"alexander-gustafsson-explains-how-daniel-cormier-is-playing-it-safe-by-fighting-stipe-miocic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/alexander-gustafsson\/alexander-gustafsson-explains-how-daniel-cormier-is-playing-it-safe-by-fighting-stipe-miocic\/","title":{"rendered":"Alexander Gustafsson explains how Daniel Cormier is “playing it safe” by fighting Stipe Miocic"},"content":{"rendered":"

On July 7, in the main event of UFC 226, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will return to his former haunts in the heavyweight division, where he will challenge heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic for the title. While this fight is one of the most anticipated on the UFC calendar, it has left the light heavyweight division’s top contenders without a champion to gun for. Sweden’s Alexander Gustafsson is one of those contenders<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour<\/a>, Gustafsson expressed his frustration with Cormier’s departure from the division \u2013 even if it’s only temporary.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been a little bit frustrated,\u201d Gustafsson said.\u00a0\u201cI was counting on the DC fight. Me and him fighting for the belt again, that was my plan. That was my plan basically, and it didn\u2019t end up like that, so it\u2019s been a little bit frustrating. I\u2019ve been injured for awhile too. I got injured not long after the fight I had against Glover [Teixeira], so I\u2019m really motivated. I\u2019ve been out for awhile and I\u2019m just tired of being out such a long period of time. I just want to be active and I feel the fire and I feel the motivation.”<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now when [Cormier] goes up a weight class, we\u2019re just sitting there on the sideline watching everything happen. So I\u2019m a little bit frustrated, a little bit disappointed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gustafsson went on to say that he feels Cormier is playing it safe by fighting Miocic. In his opinion, the light heavyweight champ has plenty to gain in victory, but not much to lose in defeat.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe knows I\u2019m here and he knows I\u2019m waiting for him,” he said. “It feels like he\u2019s just playing it safe, and he has everything to gain in that [UFC 226] fight and nothing to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whatever the case, Gustafsson wants a do-over with Cormier \u2013 and he seems prepared to head North to heavyweight himself to get it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe I need to eat a little bit more food or go up one weight class too,” Gustafsson said. “I don\u2019t know, let\u2019s see what happens. I just want to have another good run with him, and he has the belt, he has what I want. I hope he comes down. If he doesn\u2019t, then we\u2019ll have to sort it out somehow.\u201d<\/p>\n

What do you think of Alexander Gustafsson’s comments on Daniel Cormier? With Daniel Cormier temporarily unavailable, who would you like to see him fight?<\/p>\n

This article first appeared on\u00a0<\/i>BJPenn.com<\/i><\/span><\/a>\u00a0on 3\/13\/2018.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On July 7, in the main event of UFC 226, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will return to his former haunts in the heavyweight division, where he will challenge heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic for the title. While this fight is one of the most anticipated on the UFC calendar, it has left the light […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54430,"featured_media":272376,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[10129],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nAlexander Gustafsson explains how Daniel Cormier is "playing it safe" by fighting Stipe Miocic | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/alexander-gustafsson\/alexander-gustafsson-explains-how-daniel-cormier-is-playing-it-safe-by-fighting-stipe-miocic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alexander Gustafsson explains how Daniel Cormier is "playing it safe" by fighting Stipe Miocic | BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On July 7, in the main event of UFC 226, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will return to his former haunts in the heavyweight division, where he will challenge heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic for the title. 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