Daniel Cormier will be making his 205-pound debut in the co-headliner of tomorrow night's (Feb. 22, 2014) UFC 170 pay-per-view (PPV) event, which is booked for Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. But not because he was stinking up the joint at heavyweight.
Quite the opposite, actually.
"DC" drops down following a perfect record in the promotion's highest weight class, one that includes wins over Antonio Silva, Josh Barnett and Frank Mir, just to name a few. But since his close friend and training partner at American Kickboxing Academy (AKA), Cain Velasquez, is ruler of the 265-pound roost, he opted to try his luck elsewhere, rather than fight his team mate.
He wasn't that big anyway, as you can see in these before and after pics, just a little on the chubby side.
Click to enlarge.
Svelte!
Get complete UFC 170 weigh in results and video here.
A win for Cormier probably won't vault him into his long-desired title fight against bitter rival Jon Jones, who defends his strap against Glover Teixeira at UFC 173 (details). That's because the Olympian is now fighting Patrick "Coffee House" Cummins and not former 205-pound champion Rashad Evans.
Shit happens.
That paves the way for Alexander Gustafsson to earn a "Bones," rematch, or perhaps set up a Cormier vs. Manuwa title-eliminator fight should "The Mauler" fail to be a baller in the UFC Fight Night 37 main event next month in London, England (more on that fight here).
There are still plenty of pieces to sort out in this light heavyweight puzzle, fight fans, stay vigilant!