Daniel Cormier

By FCF Staff

Many people believed Alexander Gustafsson would be a stiff challenge for Daniel Cormier at UFC 192, and after their thrilling fight, the champ had nothing but praise for the challenger.

Gustafsson dropped Cormier at one point with a vicious knee to the head, and even took the renowned wrestler down a couple of times. Cormier was also cut and bruised by the “The Mauler”.

Cormier, however, constantly came at Gustafsson, and outscored the noted striker on the feet. In the end, the light-heavyweight was awarded the split decision win.

While talking to FOX Sports after the card, Cormier had this to say about Gustafsson and the fight.

“These are the ones when you start fighting you dream about when you have to dig really deep and overcome an obstacle sometimes you think you can’t overcome. In the second round, he cut me, and I was seeing double out of one eye. I had to go rebuild. He hurt me really bad with the knee. It was one of those times you don’t know if you’re going to get it done but if you’re still standing, you keep fighting.”

“I’ve got to get better. I’ve got to move my head more. I have to wrestle more. I don’t have anything to prove. I said I could beat Alex in a stand-up fight, but I didn’t really have to.”

Cormier is expected to face former champion Jon Jones next, who decisioned “DC” in January.