Daniel Cormier praised Max Holloway and Alex Pereira for their statement-making performances at UFC 300.
Saturday night represented the biggest MMA event of the year, and the massive expectations were somehow exceeded. Many fighters contributed to the success, but none were more impressive than the knockout wins by Holloway against Justin Gaethje and Pereira against Jamahal Hill.
During an episode of Good Guy / Bad Guy, Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen reflected on the legendary UFC 300 event. While discussing Holloway, Cormier had this to say about him defeating world-class fighters like ‘The Korean Zombie, Jose Aldo, and Gaethje:
“Watching Max Holloway in there, it was never more clear that you can not let him get in his rhythm. Max Holloway, when he gets into his rhythm, is a handful. We have seen him make guys like The Korean Zombie, Brian Ortega, we have seen him make Jose Aldo and now Justin Gaethje, he made them all seem normal.”
Cormier continued:
“These are not normal athletes. These are assassins. When he gets to flowing, you can’t stay with him. You gotta disrupt his rhythm very early…I feel like when watching Max Holloway, who’s one of my best buds, this weekend, this guy was floating.”
Watch Holloway knock out Gaethje below:
THE BADDEST MOTHERF****R 😮💨 @BlessedMMA | #UFC300 pic.twitter.com/WHtaTOmniw
— UFC (@ufc) April 14, 2024
Daniel Cormier emphasizes how impressive Alex Pereira’s MMA accomplishments are without wrestling skills
To end UFC 300, Alex Pereira was tasked with defending his light heavyweight title for the first time against former champion Jamahal Hill. ‘Poatan’ and ‘Sweet Dreams’ established an intense rivalry throughout the fight week, but the Brazilian had the last laugh by retaining his throne with a first-round knockout win.
During the previously mentioned podcast episode, Daniel Cormier reminded fans that Pereira has reached this level of success without top-tier grappling skills:
“I’m sitting there at night going, how’s he doing this when, with all due respect because Alex and I have a great relationship, he can’t wrestle? He does not know how to wrestle. When they grab his leg, he kind of just falls down. He can’t wrestle. When he can’t wrestle, I’m like, how is this happening when he can’t wrestle? He’s got this singular skillset that is so good that it does not matter what he can’t do. He’s so good at what he does that he’s now the best in the world.”
Shortly after getting his hand raised, Alex Pereira called for a fight at heavyweight. It’ll be intriguing to see if the UFC gives ‘Poatan’ the opportunity in his next Octagon appearance or if they would rather have him defend his light heavyweight throne against a top contender like Magomed Ankalaev.
Watch the entire episode of Good Guy / Bad Guy below:
