[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] think [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] and [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag]Small talk can cause them to fight.
Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) dethroned Leon Edwards to become welterweight champion at UFC 304 in July. He has since welcomed Shavkat Rakhmonov as a potential first title defense and traded barbs with former champion Usman (20-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC).
However, considering Usman has lost three games in a row, a title shot will likely be a tough sell. Not in Cormier’s mind, though, as the former two-time UFC champion pointed to past examples where feuds resulted in unwarranted title opportunities.
“This is one of those situations where Belal Muhammad is doing exactly what you would expect new champions to do, but you have to be careful unless that’s exactly what you want,” Cormier said in his YouTube channel. “Either he wants to fight Kamaru Usman, or he’s just singing because, doing what he’s doing now, he might have to fight Kamaru Usman, because when you bring a champion back into the game, who at this point isn’t really there. contention because of the fights with Leon and Khamzat (Chimaev). You bring him back into the game, the powers that be start saying, ‘Well, he went up to 185 on 10 days’ notice to save a card and fought the guy. This is a very close No. 1 contender fight, and if it was a five-round fight, a lot of people thought he would win.
“We’ve seen a lot of fights and rivalries based on guys not liking each other. We’ve seen many fighters get title shots that many of you believe were undeserved, based on the fact that the champion, they didn’t like. We saw people like Alex Pereira, who became the man, fight for the title in two fights in the UFC because he had a history with Israel Adesanya. especially a man who carries a lot of reputation, who has cache, a man who makes people show up in the arena, you have to be careful because if that’s not what you really want, you could end up getting that fight. “
Usman’s three losses came twice in title fights against Edwards, then a short-notice middleweight fight against Chimaev at UFC 294 in October 2023.
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This article was originally published on MMA Junkie: Daniel Cormier: Belal Muhammad ‘may have to fight Kamaru Usman’ if they keep singing
