UFC Hall of Famer and former two-division world champion Daniel Cormier recently spoke with Niall McGrath of Talking Brawls on YouTube to discuss a multitude of things, including the upcoming contest between Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira.
That bout will decide the new UFC lightweight champion, a title that is currently vacant due to the controversial weigh-in miss by ‘Do Bronx’ ahead of his UFC 274 bout with Justin Gaethje. Much has been said and speculated surrounding Oliveira’s missed weight with many individuals, including Cormier, believing it was the fault of the commission.
“Do Bronx got done bad man. Oliveira got done bad by a commission that just didn’t know what they were doing. It was bad. Charles Oliveira is the lightweight champion of the world.”
Elaborating on his comments, Daniel Cormier believes that the UFC should move to digital scales for the official weigh-in. DC also stated that the state athletic commissions need to be removed from the weight-in process altogether.
“There was a guy in Texas. In Dallas, the guy was a stickler to the point I thought Julianna Pena was going to miss weight. I’m like, ‘dude, the scale broke. She’s fine.’ He’s going to 134.8 (pounds). I’m like, ‘guy, if the scale breaks, she is fine. let’s just get going here. the champ made weight, the challenger made weight. We got a fight.’ So yeah, I think we need to take it out of the hands of the commission because we as human beings want to be part of the show and you don’t need to be that heavily involved.”
Daniel Cormier Says People Haven’t Seen How Good Islam Makhachev Truly Is
While on the subject of Charles Oliveira, Daniel Cormier couldn’t help but talk about Khabibi Nurmagomedov’s protege, Islam Makhachev. With 10 straight victories, six by finish, the Dagestani striker finally gets his world title main event at UFC 280 in October. During their conversation, DC was asked if he believes Makhachev is better than Nurmagomedov.
“I think that Islam possesses a great stand-up, but there’s never been a person more dominant in one’s skill than Khabib. Khabib’s grappling is so good whereas Islam’s a fantastic grappler and Islam’s a fantastic striker. Probably a more technical striker than Khabib. I don’t know if it level’s out to that one skill that Khabib possesses that is just so dominant, but Makhachev is a great striker. He’s a great grappler.
“Dude is as good as they come. I think the story’s not told yet on Islam Makhachev. There’s so much more for the world to see in regards to who this kid is. He’s a truly special talent. His personality. His overall game. You still haven’t seen his overall game because nobody made him use it. He’s been able to take people down and dominate them on the ground.”
While Islam Makhachev has a laundry list of wins to his credit, he is still yet to be truly tested by a fighter like Charles Oliveira. Will we see Makhachev start a new chapter of his career or does ‘Do Bronx’ close the book on Khabib Nurmagomedov’s successor?
