UFC
Though Dana White wants him at 205 lbs., Daniel Cormier may get UFC Heavyweight Title shot in debut
May 28, 2012 - 4:25:50 PM Though Dana White wants him at 205 lbs., Daniel Cormier may get UFC Heavyweight Title shot in debut

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Daniel Cormier raised his stock even further last week when he defeated Josh Barnett in the finals of the Strikeforce Heavyweight World Grand Prix. He's got one more fight to take in Strikeforce before coming to the UFC, but should he win that fight, he's got something major to look forward to.

"If he comes over and wants to fight for the Heavyweight Championship, yes [he can have the shot]," UFC President Dana White revealed following Saturday's UFC 146 event (via MMAWeekly.com).

However, White would like to see Cormier make a move down to the light heavyweight division instead.

"He will end up coming over to the UFC. The thing is I'd love to see the guy go down to 205. I think he's a small heavyweight over here," White said. "Listen, I respect Josh Barnett, he did work Barnett. Barnett fights like once a year, I'm not taking anything away from Barnett, but it's a whole other ballgame over here.”

"I'm not telling him," White said. "The guy wants to stay at heavyweight, I'm not going to tell him where to go, but I think it would be a good move for him to go to 205."

Penick's Analysis: It will be interesting to see how the timing works out on this. Cormier said he's going to get surgery for his broken hand, so if he must fight once more in Strikeforce it won't be until October or later. If that's around when Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos have their rematch, it could work to have him debut into a title shot, bypassing Alistair Overeem or Fabricio Werdum. Or, if the injury keeps him out the rest of the year, maybe they bring him over to fight Overeem in January, or even have him face Fabricio Werdum first. Regardless, he'll be getting a big fight in his UFC debut. The cut to 205 just isn't going to happen. He's had well-documented issues with his kidneys and isn't going to put that type of stress on his body through weight-cutting. But he can hang in the UFC's heavyweight division.