Daniel Cormier shouldn’t be a fan of UFC featherweght champion Ilia Topuria’s latest calls for.
Previous to claiming the 145-pound title with a knockout of Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298, Topuria dismissed the likes of Max Holloway and Brian Ortega as potential title challengers.
Topuria (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) ultimately welcomed the thought of Holloway (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC) however put a stipulation of Holloway’s BMF title being on the road. Holloway knocked out Justin Gaethje with an iconic last-second end to seize the BMF title at UFC 300.
Cormier is confused by Topuria’s method.
“You want the identify that comes from the era earlier than,” Cormier stated on his YouTube channel. “Ilia appears to be taking one other method. I don’t know precisely what it’s, although, as a result of he stated he wasn’t going to combat Brian Ortega, he stated he wasn’t going to combat Max Holloway, and now it seems like he’s not desirous to combat Alexander Volkanovski once more.
“These are the names from the featherweight previous. He doesn’t appear to need to combat these guys. I don’t know when these rankings who could be subsequent. Now, he’s agreed to combat Max Holloway. …He’ll combat Max however provided that Max’s BMF title is on the road too.”
Cormier thinks Topuria must acknowledge Holloway as a legit challenger and isn’t certain if he has as a lot pull as he thinks.
“He has to make a press release saying, ‘That is what I need because the champ’ after which put the ball in Max’s courtroom to disclaim it,” Cormier stated. “However proper now, it’s not coming off nice. He’s batting away all these guys with no clear thought of who else there may be. … It’s simply bizarre. He’s not telling us what’s subsequent, however he’s saying no to numerous issues that may be proper now. I don’t know that you are able to do that because the champ.”
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