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Cormier has business before Jones rematch despite callout

Ryan Bader surfaces as new Cormier rival after crashing post-fight press conference

UFC 187 Fight Night at MGM Grand Arena

L.E. Baskow

UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier celebrates his win over Anthony Johnson ending their UFC 187 fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Friday, May 22, 2015.

Cormier and Bader press conference encounter *Warning: Explicit Language*

In the shadow of the brightest moment of his career, the newest UFC champion came close to recreating one of his darkest scenes.

Daniel Cormier nearly got into a second news conference brawl Saturday night at the MGM Grand after defeating Anthony Johnson via third-round submission to win the vacant light heavyweight title at UFC 187. A verbal exchange between Cormier and fellow light heavyweight Ryan Bader escalated quickly at the post-fight press conference.

Bader rushed toward the dais, threatening Cormier, before security intervened and escorted the veteran out of the room.

“This is my press conference,” Cormier shouted. “Get the (expletive) out of here.”

Immediately after his victory, Cormier implored former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones — his original news conference foil — to resolve his legal issues so they could stage a rematch of their fight from four months ago. But less than two hours later, it became clear that Cormier’s ideal first defense of his belt wouldn’t come against his old rival.

He’d rather face the new enemy.

“This guy is so disrespectful,” Cormier began his rant against Bader. “I’m trying to fight Anthony Johnson and Ryan Bader is writing me stupid messages on Twitter because he wants people to believe he deserves a title shot. Come on, Ryan. Come fight me. You’ll get your (expletive) kicked.”

Bader and Cormier were scheduled to fight in the main event of a UFC Fight Night card in New Orleans on June 6 before Jones’ arrest in connection with a hit-and-run. Bader, who’s on a four-fight win streak, felt mistreated when the promotion opted to insert Cormier into the spot forfeited by Jones, who was stripped of the title and suspended indefinitely, at UFC 187.

He accused Cormier of ducking him.

“Two times, you got out of it,” Bader yelled at Cormier Saturday.

The euphoria of achieving his professional goal by becoming champion couldn’t shield Cormier from the anger he felt toward Bader.

“I wanted to fight you,” Cormier barked back. “I asked to fight you. They said, ‘Daniel, what do you want?’ I said, ‘I want the easiest fight in the division. I want Ryan Bader.’”

Johnson, like the approximately 200 other people watching, was engrossed by the encounter. It’s no secret which fighter Johnson would favor in the bout.

Cormier snapped Johnson’s nine-fight win streak in the UFC 187 main event, and showed he could take the heavy-handed striker’s best shot in the process. Johnson scored a knockdown 20 seconds into the fight, but Cormier recovered.

He wrestled defensively for most of the first round until he got his bearings back, and then reverted to his attacking game plan in the second. Cormier took Johnson down and wore him out with ground-and-pound strikes over the next five minutes.

A deep-breathing Johnson couldn’t get Cormier off of him in the third, and tapped out to a rear-naked choke at 2:39 of the round.

“Daniel did an awesome job,” Johnson said. “He definitely made me carry his weight, and he’s heavy as hell.”

Jones, the consensus best fighter in the world, is the only man to ever defeat Cormier. But he’s facing felony charges that carry a potential jail sentence with no timetable for a return.

Cormier referenced his age — the former Olympic wrestler turned 36 in March — as the biggest reason he can’t wait around to see what happens with Jones. They’ll meet again, but Cormier doubts it will be anytime soon.

“We’re so tied together, Jon and I,” Cormier said. “I don’t think that’s going to change until we fight again. He beat me last time, but even in that, you don’t stop believing in yourself. I still think I can beat him.”

Cormier could fight twice more this year. He expressed a desire to face Bader as soon as possible, which in theory could leave a rematch with Jones a possibility the UFC’s much-awaited New York debut.

The company has reserved Madison Square Garden for UFC 194 on Dec. 6 pending the Legislature voting to legalize mixed martial arts next month. Jones, who grew up in upstate New York, always spoke of wanting to headline the card.

But it’s filling up. Middleweight champion and Long Island native Chris Weidman, who defeated Vitor Belfort via first-round TKO in the co-main event of UFC 187, staked his claim Saturday too.

Weidman had no preference on whether he faced Luke Rockhold or Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in his next title defense, though he was staunch on location.

“I’m not missing the Madison Square Garden fight,” Weidman said. “That’s for sure; that’s all I really care about.”

Weidman remained undefeated in defending his title for a third consecutive time Saturday, but Cormier’s post-fight incident ensured he was UFC 187’s most-discussed champion. And, for once, it wasn’t because of Jones.

“I would love to compete against him but he’s going to be away for a while so we need to shift our focus,” Cormier said.

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

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