Former two-weight champion, Daniel Cormier has claimed the UFC is likely trying to protect a perceived “golden goose” – amid the failure to book an undisputed light heavyweight championship fight between Alex Pereira, and surging Russian contender, Magomed Ankalaev.
Pereira, the current undisputed light heavyweight champion and a former undisputed middleweight gold holder, most recently managed to successfully defend his divisional crown at UFC 303 at the end of June, laying waste to another former champion, Jiri Prochazka in the pair’s rematch.
And widely linked with a grudge match title defense against former vacant title challenger, Ankalaev in his return to action – which he hopes occurs later this year, the Russian has already been ruled from the sweepstakes to face the Brazilian.
Himself set to return in Abu Dhabi at UFC 308 at the end of October, Ankalaev is slated to make his return in a title-eliminator against fellow European talent, Aleksandar Rakic – amid links to a title showdown with Sao Paulo ace, Pereira.
Daniel Cormier claims Alex Pereira is the UFC’s “golden goose”
However, sharing his thoughts on a failed pairing between Pereira and Ankalaev, the above-mentioned Hall of Fame star, Cormier claimed the UFC was likely trying to protect the “golden goose” in the current light heavyweight champion.
“I don’t think you run the risk yet,” Daniel Cormier said on an episode of Good Guy / Bad Guy. “And I’m not saying (Alex) Pereira can’t fight or beat (Magomed) Ankalaev. I just feel like it is a very, very difficult matchup, possibly the hardest matchup for him in the entire light heavyweight division. So, I think he has to wait right, or you get him in there with someone else right now that’s a striker. Because all these strikers he’s just knocking out left and right, and every time he does that, Chael, his star just shines brighter.”
“So, maybe that is what happens for Alex Pereira, but I’m very rarely surprised when fights get announced,” Cormier explained. “But I remember sitting in Manchester and they said UFC 308, and when I saw Rakic taking on Ankalaev, my jaw dropped, I was like, they actually did it. Like sometimes you got to protect the golden goose a little bit. And that’s kind of what it feels like.”