Daniel Cormier has stated his belief that Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski should defend their titles in their respective divisions first before they have a rematch, despite a great deal of interest in a second encounter between the two stars.
“Islam’s got work to do in his own weight class and so does Alexander Volkanovski,” Cormier said on his “DC & RC” show on ESPN. “Volkanovski owes it to Yair Rodriguez to go and give him an opportunity to try to become the undisputed champion of the world.
“And I don’t know if it’s fair to Beneil Dariush if he beats Charles Oliveira to not get his chance to fight for the lightweight championship of the world. This is the danger in superfights: You get a close superfight, (and) people are clamoring to see it again. When, in reality, we have two divisions that need the champions back in order to really give us a little clarity.”
It does leave the UFC with a bit of a dilemma though. There’s no doubt that what DC is suggesting does seem like the best move for the sake of the leading contenders in their respective divisions, but the argument on the other hand is that it’s best to strike while the iron is hot as there’s always the chance that one or even both will lose their next fight, which would take the heat out of the rematch.
Video from the aftermath of their original fight at UFC 284 recently showed both Makhachev and Volkanovski appearing to verbally agree with each other to have a rematch, but at this stage the UFC brass haven’t indicated what their plans are for the two champions.
