5 fighters who could end 2018 with a UFC title and 5 who won't

Won’t end 2018 with a title – Daniel Cormier

After his loss to Jon Jones, is Daniel Cormier's head really in the game?

Whether it’s at the hands of Volkan Oezdemir this weekend, or perhaps Alexander Gustafsson later in 2018, I simply can’t see Light-Heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier escaping 2018 with his title – or any other title – intact. It sounds crazy given the only fighter to ever have beaten Cormier is Jon Jones and he likely isn’t fighting any time soon due to his USADA suspension, but something tells me ‘DC’ is heading ever-closer to the end of his MMA career.

Firstly, whereas the first time he won the title, he did it by defeating Anthony Johnson following Jones’ stripping, this time he’s simply had the title handed back to him despite Jones TKOing him due to the champion’s drug test failure. While it’s probably nicer to know Jones had to cheat to beat him, the bottom line is that he still did it. And to have the title handed to him probably doesn’t mean as much as it did to win it the first time.

Basically, I wonder whether Cormier’s head can possibly still be in the game, and as he’s coming up to his 39th birthday, his physical prime is likely lost already. If he’s able to hold onto his title, it’ll be a miracle in my eyes, and despite him having no losses at Heavyweight, I can’t see him going after that belt if the monstrous Francis Ngannou is holding it. I see Cormier retiring to focus on his announcing duties after losing his title during 2018.