With Charles Oliveira no longer champion, Daniel Cormier thinks he needs to employ different methods to get Conor McGregor’s attention.
Oliveira (23-1 MMA, 12-1 UFC) has long wanted to welcome McGregor back to the octagon and even was willing to let McGregor leapfrog other contenders when he was champion.
McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) has yet to return but appears closer than ever after announcing he’ll be a coach on Season 31 of “The Ultimate Fighter.” There is no shortage of fighters chomping at the bit to take on McGregor, so how does Oliveira get his attention? Cormier says the ex-lightweight champion can’t play nice.
“I really believe that for Charles Oliveira now, not holding that belt – that belt was the one thing that made him valuable to Conor,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “Conor thought, ‘Well, this is a guy that strikes. This is a guy that can be hurt. This is a guy that holds the championship, so I want to fight that dude.’ But when you talk about star power and risk management, you ain’t looking to fight ‘Do Bronx’ if it ain’t for something so grand like a championship.
“If he really does want an opportunity, I think Oliveira needs to talk more about McGregor and be more insulting about McGregor and talk about all the issues that McGregor has. From the issue with the bus, from the issue to the fight with the man in the pub, to the issue that he’s going through now. I think he has to get as personal as personal can be. … So ‘Do Bronx’: Get personal, get nasty if you want to cash that check.”
Cormier knows a thing or two about fight promotion. The former UFC dual-champion was involved in one of the biggest rivalries in the promotion’s history with Jon Jones. The pair fought twice in light heavyweight title fights.
McGregor currently is under investigation for allegedly attacking a woman on board his yacht in Ibiza, Spain, in July 2022, according to a report from Spain’s Majorca Daily Bulletin. A McGregor representative told MMA Mania the Irish superstar denies the accusations made towards him.
