Daniel Cormier discloses UFC had plan in place if Alex Pereira withdrew from title fight against Khalil Rountree: "Pereira was hurt"
Daniel Cormier recently disclosed that the UFC was prepared and even had a plan in place if Alex Pereira was unable to defend his light heavyweight championship against Khalil Rountree this past Saturday. The Brazilian had been battling an illness and injuries and informed the promotion ahead of time, so it didn't come as a surprise.
Fortunately for fans, 'Poatan' was able to compete in an entertaining action-packed main event at UFC 307. Pereira was tested as he had to regroup from being dropped early in the fight and went on to earn a spectacular fourth-round TKO. It was his third successful light heavyweight title defense this year and his 12th professional win.
Following the event, 'Poatan' disclosed that he required two rounds of antibiotics for his illness as well as a rib injury. During the latest episode of ESPN MMA's Good Guy / Bad Guy, Cormier mentioned that the promotion was prepared to promote the women's bantamweight title fight between Raquel Pennington and Julianna Pena to the main event and likely reschedule Pereira vs. Rountree:
"[Alex] Pereira was hurt too. I was talking to his manager and his coach after the fight and they said they told the UFC, 'We're gonna go to Salt Lake [City]. We're gonna try to train, but we may pull out'... The UFC said to him, 'That would suck but... we have two title fights, we'll elevate one if that's what we need to do'. Dude, he fight. The good will you gain from the organization when you do that is unbelievable." [16:36]
Check out the full episode featuring Daniel Cormier's comments below:
Daniel Cormier believes the UFC would grant Alex Pereira a heavyweight fight
In addition to disclosing Alex Pereira's potential withdrawal from UFC 307, Daniel Cormier claimed that he believes the promotion would grant 'Poatan' a heavyweight fight if he formally requested it.
During the aforementioned episode, Cormier mentioned that Pereira's willingness to compete and track record of stepping in to save UFC pay-per-view cards on short notice would factor into the promotion rewarding him:
"If [Pereira] did go into the offices of Dana [White] and Hunter [Campbell] and those guys and go, 'I would like to fight Tom Aspinall for the interim [heavyweight] championship', those actions that he showed last weekend leads to you receiving those types of opportunities. So the world really is his oyster." [17:09 ]
Check out the crowd reaction after Alex Pereira's win at UFC 307 below: