Daniel Cormier believes fight against top UFC middleweight contender would "motivate" Israel Adesanya to return
Daniel Cormier recently weighed in on Israel Adesanya, announcing that he intends to return to competition soon and noted that a top UFC middleweight contender would entice him.
The former UFC middleweight champion announced that he would be taking a break from competing following his title loss to Sean Strickland this past September. He has since expressed his desire to return, which caught the attention of Khamzat Chimaev.
Cormier uploaded a video to his YouTube channel, where he stressed that the UFC should avoid booking 'Izzy' vs. 'Borz' for the time being and instead wait for the outcome of the middleweight title fight between Strickland and Dricus du Plessis. He mentioned that a bout against 'Stoneknocks' could excite him because of the animosity between the two regardless of the outcome of his bout against 'Tarzan', saying:
"If you're the UFC, I say you save that fight. You save Adesanya [v.s] du Plessis at all costs. Because, I believe that's one that will motivate Adesanya because if you want to know my thoughts, Adesanya did not seem motivated for [Sean] Strickland." [12:01 - 12:15]
Strickland vs. du Plessis is scheduled to headline UFC 297, which takes place on January 20, so Adesanya's return to challenge the winner remains to be seen.
Check out the full video:
Daniel Cormier weighs in on Sean Strickland's improvement
Daniel Cormier revealed that he has heard rave reviews regarding Sean Strickland's improvements as a fighter since defeating Israel Adesanya to win the middleweight championship at UFC 293.
During the aforementioned video, the UFC Hall of Famer mentioned that the 32-year-old is constantly being overlooked even as the reigning champion and that he continues to silence his detractors, saying:
"The improvement this dude [Sean Strickland] is making daily, I hear is unbelievable...The improvements that people are seeing out of Sean Strickland every day inside of Xtreme Couture...He has this problem of getting overlooked and it's costing people...I've spoken to 'DDP's people and they believe it's an ideal matchup for them." [12:21 - 12:49]