Daniel Cormier and Alexander Gustafsson trade trash talk on Twitter

UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier’s next fight will not occur in the light heavyweight division, but at heavyweight, where his career began. His opponent in this return to the heavyweight division will be UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic. The pair will battle in the main event of UFC 226 this July.

While news that Cormier will fight Miocic was met with widespread excitement, it didn’t go over particularly well with Alexander Gustafsson, the top contender in the light heavyweight division, who feels he’s been deprived of the light heavyweight title shot he’s earned.

When rationalizing his choice to fight Miocic rather than Gustafsson, Daniel Cormier has mentioned Gustafsson’s recent, tepid decision win over Jan Blachowicz as a reason why he might not deserve the shot just yet. This rationale didn’t jive with Gustafsson, who went after the champ on Twitter.

Dc u talk about the blachowicz fight?! What about when “someone” predicted the left kick and still u fell for it..

— Alexander Gustafsson (@AlexTheMauler) January 31, 2018

“Dc u talk about the blachowicz fight?!” Gustafsson said on Twitter before referencing Cormier’s knockout loss to Jon Jones, which was overturned when Jones failed a drug test. “What about when “someone” predicted the left kick and still u fell for it.”

Unsurprisingly, Cormier was quick to fire back, offering the Swedish contender a stern warning.

Damn alex, like that? Too late bud, this the shit you should have been saying before the fight was made. Now chill before I beat ur face in again pretty boy! https://t.co/Okm0hEW6qt

— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) January 31, 2018

“Damn Alex, like that?” Cormier said in his response. “Too late bud, this the shit you should have been saying before the fight was made. Now chill before I beat ur face in again pretty boy!”

Do you want to see a rematch between Daniel Cormier and Alexander Gustafsson?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 1/31/2018.