Daniel Cormier vs. Alexander Gustafsson? Mendez wants 'Mauler' fight to set up Jon Jones title shot

Daniel Cormier may be going down to the light heavyweight division with little buzz following his unanimous decision win over Roy Nelson at UFC 166 this past weekend (Oct. 19, 2013), but "DC" still has his eyes sets on division champion Jon Jones.

It's no secret the two have already built a rivalry, so a showdown between them is a given.

And when they finally collide inside the Octagon, Javier Mendez -- Cormier's trainer -- believes both will encounter problems they've never faced before. On Jones' part, he'll face an Olympic level wrestler that will end up putting him on his back whether he wants to be there or not.

Having said that, while Javier is confident in his pupil, he doesn't envision Cormier getting an "easy" win over "Bones."

Mendez broke it down during an appearance on "The MMA Hour:"

"I don't think he'll win (against Jones) easily, and I'm not 100-percent sure he's going to win. I'm 100-percent sure that it's going to be a hell of a fight and it's going to be the biggest challenge of Jones' life. That I'm 100-percent sure of. Cormier's going to meet an individual who's got the height and knows how to use it, knows how to use it really well. But what Jones is going to meet, he's going to meet a wrestler like he's never faced before. Someone of that level. Now Jones has got to be concerned about going on his back. He can't be thinking about, ‘Okay, it's going to be difficult to take me down.' Now he 100 percent has a legit reason to be careful what he does, because he's going to be on his back whether he likes it or not."

While the former Olympian will likely have to get a win at 205 pounds before he earns a title shot, Team Cormier isn't looking to get an easy fight; they want a big name opponent to justify a shot at the gold and Alexander Gustafsson fits the bill just fine.

Gus is fresh of a "Fight of the Night" performance against the aforementioned Jones at UFC 165 in which the Swede came ever-so close to dethroning Jon from the top of the 205-pound mountain.

And while Jones has already found a dance partner in Glover Teixeira -- whom he'll face sometime on 2014 -- "The Mauler" is still looking for someone to tango with.

Cormier, for one, is willing to step up to the plate in what will be his first fight in the division. Because as Mendez declared, if they can beat Gustafsson, then it will just show what kind of fight "DC" will put up against Jones.

If not, well, then that just means they were "talking crap" all along, according to the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) leader.

Cormier vs. Gustafsson ... who wants it?