Daniel Cormier backs Magomed Ankalaev not fighting "golden goose" Alex Pereira next, explains why UFC made the right call
Daniel Cormier recently shared his thoughts on the UFC's decision to avoid matching reigning light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira against Magomed Ankalaev.
'Poatan' has been unstoppable since making a triumphant leap to the 205-pound division, starting with his victory over Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291. He then captured the vacant light heavyweight title against Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295 and has impressively defended his belt twice this year, both within a span of just two months.
After Pereira's second-round knockout of Prochazka at UFC 303, Ankalaev confidently declared that he would be the one to dethrone the Brazilian in a potential showdown. However, the UFC had other plans, opting to book the Russian against Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308 on Oct. 26 rather than granting him the much-anticipated title fight with Pereira.
The announcement of this matchup caught many in the MMA community off guard, including former two-division UFC champion Cormier.
During a recent episode of Good Guy / Bad Guy, 'DC' voiced his surprise and questioned why the UFC chose to pair Ankalaev with Rakic instead of setting up a showdown with Pereira:
"I don’t know why Pereira is not fighting Ankalaev. I don’t know why that’s not happening. What I like is that Ankalaev now has to pass another test. Because what the UFC is kind of saying here is we’ve got this star. We know that this guy here could be a real potential issue for that star." [ht/ MMA Mania]
Cormier further emphasized that 'Poatan' is currently the UFC's most prominent figure and his status could be at risk if he were to face Ankalaev and suffer a defeat:
"I'm very rarely surprised when fights get announced, but I remember sitting in Manchester... when I saw Rakic taking on Ankalaev, my jaw dropped. I was like, 'They actually did it.' Sometimes you got to protect that golden goose a little bit, and that's kind of what it feels like."
Check out Daniel Cormier's comments below (31:55):
Dana White discusses the possibility of Alex Pereira moving to heavyweight
With UFC titles already secured in both the light heavyweight and middleweight divisions, Alex Pereira now stands on the cusp of making history. A successful move to the heavyweight division could see him become the promotion's first-ever champion in three weight classes.
However, during a recent interview with MMA reporter Kevin Iole, UFC CEO Dana White suggested that Pereira should focus on facing more challengers in the 205-pound division before contemplating another move up:
"I like Alex… Let Alex do what he’s doing in the division. And you know what? If he wipes out the entire division and we are sitting here, who’s next? Then let him move up to heavyweight and do some type of super fight there."
Check out Dana White's comments below (28:38):