Daniel Cormier, former two-division UFC champion and commentator, believes that the middleweight division should move on and give other fighters a chance for Sean Strickland‘s first title defense, rather than pushing for Israel Adesanya‘s automatic rematch after his recent loss at UFC 293.
Daniel Cormier, former two-division UFC champ and commentator, believes a new contender should vie for the title following Israel Adesanya’s upsetting defeat to Sean Strickland at UFC 293. Cormier’s comments about the future of the middleweight division came in the aftermath of the remarkable upset in Sydney. According to him, the way in which this loss occurred and the many possible match-ups it presents lend a stronger argument for the middleweight fighters to challenge Strickland’s first title defense.
In the post-event wrap-up on ESPN+ pay-per-view, Cormier said, “The last time Izzy lost, all we could speak about was he should be next again. I don’t think that this time. I don’t think he should fight for a belt next time. I don’t think he should get an automatic rematch. I think the division needs to move on a little bit.” He was referring to Adesanya’s fifth-round knockout loss to Alex Pereira at UFC 281. Despite Adesanya leading the fight and topping the judges’ scorecards until the very end, Pereira’s last-minute push brought about the unprecedented upset.
On the UFC 293 Saturday night, there was unanimity among the judges that Strickland had won the fight. They scored him 4-1 against Adesanya, who was making the first defense of his second title reign, post an immediate rematch win against Pereira at UFC 287. Strickland was actually not the intended opponent for Adesanya in the UFC 293 headline event at Qudos Bank Arena. It was supposed to be the rising middleweight Dricus Du Plessis, who had made a strong impact following his win against former champ Robert Whittaker at UFC 290.
Cormier opines that Adesanya’s defeat signals a new era for the 185-pound fighters who’ve either already lost to Adesanya or are yet to get their shot at the title. One such contender present at the Sydney event was Jared Cannonier, who had previously lost to Adesanya at UFC 276 and was a backup for the middleweight title fight at UFC 293. Another intriguing prospect is the impending fight between former welterweight Khamzat Chimaev and one-time title challenger Paulo Costa at UFC 294 in October. Cormier enthused, “It’s like a brand new world, right, like The Little Mermaid – a whole new world. Sean Strickland now opens up the possibility for so many fresh matchups…”