UFC commentator Daniel Cormier clapped back at Alex Pereira after suggesting the company told him to promote another heavyweight title bout.
According to Pereira, Cormier was told by the UFC to promote a UFC heavyweight title bout between champion Ciryl Gane and challenger Josh Hokit at UFC 334.
But according to Cormier, that’s simply not the case.
Daniel Cormier Downplays Alex Pereira’s Conspiracy Theory
Taking to his YouTube channel, Cormier clapped back at Pereira and downplayed the conspiracy theory that the UFC heavyweight star presented.
“Alex Pereira is one of the best fighters we have seen in a very long time. Alex Pereira is a middleweight champion, a light heavyweight champion, and a guy that’s now fights in the heavyweight division. Alex Pereira and I have built a relationship over the past five years that he’s been here. I believe that it’s a great relationship, and I believe that it’s a friendship,” Cormier said (via MMAFighting.com).
“But today, I was given something by Luis: Pereira did an interview, and he said some things, and I think a lot of it is just a bit confusing to me. One, it’s a bout the Josh Hokit-Ciryl Gane fight, but that doesn’t necessarily bother me much at all. It’s not true, though.
“I was not told by the UFC to promote this as the fight to happen. I will tell you why I think that was the fight to happen, after some fact-checking. … Again, I have nothing against Alex Pereira. If anything, I consider him a buddy of mine. We’ve had some great moments, we’ve had some great interviews, we’ve had some great interactions.”
Daniel Cormier Explains How Alex Pereira Can Get a UFC Title Shot
Regardless of whether or not Cormier wanted to see Gane vs. Hokit instead of Gane vs. Pereira 2, the fact remains that Pereira did not get the title shot, and instead, he has to get through knockout artist Sergei Pavlovich next at UFC 335.
According to Cormier, it’s simple for Pereira: go out there and beat Pavlovich, and you’ll be next in line to fight the winner of Gane vs. Hokit.
“Now, Pereira goes and wins his fight, I would definitely say he deserves to fight the winner. I just don’t know that the result at the White House helps him in any way, shape, or form to be fighting for the belt immediately,” Cormier said.
Cormier also wants to mend fences with Pereira over any perceived slight, chalking it up to a language barrier.
“I didn’t say he wasn’t gonna be the champion. I actually said quite the opposite: that if he won, he would be in the GOAT conversation, with two guys I admire greatly in Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson and Georges St-Pierre. So I just don’t want the conversation changing, because now it feels like we are not aligned in terms of our views, when in reality, I have been a big advocate for Alex Pereira at every single step. I just have to chalk this quote up to a miscommunication and a language barrier,” Cormier said.
Daniel Cormier Claps Back at Alex Pereira Over Conspiracy Theory