Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who was suspended indefinitely and stripped of his title ahead of UFC 187 in June, is still the "real" champion in the eyes of contender Alexander Gustafsson, who fought Jones at UFC 165.
Gustafsson will be challenging the current champion, Daniel Cormier, for the UFC title later this year but doesn't feel as if Cormier is the "true" champion of the division.
"Whoever is holding the belt is the official champion, but everybody knows that the best guy out there is Jon Jones," Gustafsson told Fightland. "He's the pound for pound best guy in the world and you can probably only consider yourself a real world champion if you beat him."
Cormier was defeated soundly by Jones at UFC 182, while Gustafsson gave Jones arguably the hardest fight of his career. In fact, Gustafsson was favored to be in the UFC 187 matchup against Jones, but he was upset by Anthony "Rumble" Johnson in a fight in his home country of Sweden that derailed a highly anticipated rematch.
The fight that everybody wants to see is a rematch with me and Jones," said Gustafsson. "Let's see what happens but I'm ready for that, it's the fight that has been motivating me. I think it's a fight that is going to happen one day, for sure."
Gustafsson's choice rankled the feathers of Ryan Bader, a man who was scheduled to face Cormier this month before he was placed in the UFC 187 main event on short notice. Bader has won four straight fights vs. ranked competition, but was still passed over for the bigger name.
Gustafsson thinks he will be plenty for Cormier to handle, even if his recent resume doesn't stack up well vs. Bader's. He even said he's not afraid of Cormier's vaunted wrestling.
"I think he's very confident with his striking, he's obviously a very high caliber athlete," said Gustafsson. "He's got a lot of belief in himself and I'm expecting him to trade with me a little bit, I certainly don't think he's going to be afraid to stand up with me or anything like that. I kind of feel the same about his wrestling.
"Wrestling is all about taking you[sic] opportunities when different situations unfold. If I find myself in the right situation against Cormier, I'll use my wrestling too. We'll have to see what happens, this is an MMA fight and anything can happen."
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