Daniel Cormier explains being against Max Holloway facing Dustin Poirier in lightweight return

11/06/2024 10:30 AM

Daniel Cormier wants Max Holloway to ease his way back into lightweight.

Holloway failed to regain the featherweight title when he was knocked out for the first time in his career by champion Ilia Topuria last month at UFC 308. He recently announced that he’ll be moving to lightweight, and both he and Dustin Poirier expressed interest in a trilogy bout next.

Prior to the Topuria loss, Holloway (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC) scored an iconic last-second knockout of former interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje at UFC 300. However, Cormier wishes “Blessed” didn’t jump right back into the deep end at 155 pounds.

“He’s asking for Dustin Poirier. That would be absolutely fantastic, but is there a better way to introduce Max Holloway into the lightweight division?” Cormier said on “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Chael Sonnen. “Do we put him in there with a Dustin for a third time? Or do we see what happens with Michael Chandler after he fights against Charles Oliveira? Or do we start to kind of look down the rankings a little bit and say, ‘Well, it would be fun to watch him fight a Rafael Fiziev. It would be fun to watch him fight a Benoit Saint Denis. It would be fun to watch him fight a Paddy Pimblett.’

“I know that might not be fun for Max, that might not be great for Max, but it would also give him an opportunity to work his way back into contention without being in there with these absolute killers. Personally, I would like to see Max Holloway not stand across from Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje. Alexander Volkanovski then Ilia Topuria, something not as crazy of a challenge.”

Holloway’s first stint at lightweight in the UFC ended in a lopsided decision loss to Poirier for the interim title in April 2019. But after finishing Gaethje to claim the BMF title in April, Holloway finds himself at No. 5 in the UFC lightweight rankings.