Alexander Gustafsson feels Daniel Cormier is “better at heavyweight”

Alexander Gustafsson, who is currently the top contender in the UFC light heavyweight division, wasn’t particularly pleased when UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier moved up to heavyweight to battle divisional champion Stipe Miocic. Despite his frustrations with Cormier leaving the division, however, Gustafsson admits he was very impressed with the way Cormier ultimately defeated Miocic.

“He did great. I’m impressed,” Gustafsson told Luke Thomas on the latest edition of The MMA Hour (transcribed by Peter Carroll for MMA Fighting). “I was impressed by the way he finished Stipe and how he won the fight. I’m very impressed by the guy, he did great.”

“I didn’t really have a prediction for that fight because I know it’s a very tough fight to predict, but I had a feeling [that Cormier would win]. ‘DC’ is tough and he’s such a good athlete,” Gustafsson added.

Having witnessed the apparent ease with which Cormier dispatched Miocic, Alexander Gustafsson now feels that Cormier is better suited for the heavyweight division than he is for the light heavyweight division, where he still wears gold.

“I think he’s better at heavyweight than he is at light heavyweight. I think he’s stronger, he can eat and he doesn’t have to stress about the weight. I think he’ll do even better as a heavyweight. I had a feeling he’d win the fight, but just the way he finished [the fight] — it’s probably the wrong thing to say, but he made it look easy.”

“[Cormier’s punching power] wasn’t that bad [when we fought],” Gustafsson said, looking back on his own battle with Cormier, which he lost by split decision. “I don’t remember him punching me that hard. I’ve been fighting guys that punch way harder, but he’s a very hard worker. He keeps pressuring and he keeps throwing punches. He’s really good with his wrestling and he doesn’t stop working in a fight — I think that’s his biggest strength.”

What do you think of Alexander Gustafsson’s assessment of Daniel Cormier?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/16/2018.