Daniel Cormier is surprised that Magomed Ankalaev didn’t get a UFC light heavyweight title shot.
Instead, Anakalev (19-1-1 MMA, 10-1-1 UFC) drew Aleksandar Rakic (14-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC) on Oct. 26 at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi. That leaves light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira (11-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) without an opponent, and Cormier wonders if booking Ankalaev against someone else was done on purpose – considering that “Poatan” has come up big for the promotion by saving UFC 300 and UFC 303 on short notice this year.
“I don’t know why Pereira is not fighting Ankalaev right now,” Cormier said on “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Chael Sonnen. “I don’t know why that’s not happening. What I do like is that now Ankalaev has to pass another test because what the UFC is kind of saying here is, We’ve got this star, we know that this guy here could be a real potential issue for that star, they will fight eventually, but they will fight when we have no other option.’ I like it.”
Cormier explained that Pereira’s past few opponents have been dangerous strikers who don’t have the ability to mix it up like Ankalaev can.
“I don’t think you run the risk yet,” Cormier said. “I’m not saying Pereira can’t fight or beat 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, 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 his star just shines brighter.
“So maybe that is what happens for Alex Pereira, but I’m very rarely surprised when fights get announced. 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’ve got to protect that golden goose a little bit, and that’s kind of what it feels like.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.
