Daniel Cormier does not expect the UFC to be forced into granting Justin Gaethje’s title shot demand, even if it means losing him altogether.
The debate is ongoing regarding who will challenge Ilia Topuria first after he achieved two-division glory at UFC 317. Topuria knocked out Charles Oliveira to follow his brief featherweight reign with an immediate crowning at lightweight.
Three candidates appear in the running for the Spaniard’s first defense at 155 pounds: Arman Tsarukyan, Paddy Pimblett, and Gaethje. And when Topuria faced off with Pimblett in the Octagon, the chances of ‘The Baddy’ getting the nod appeared to significantly increase.
Should that end up being the case, fans may have seen the last of the UFC’s most exciting fighter. Gaethje has threatened to retire if he is snubbed, but if he is expecting such a stance to convince the UFC, one legend says he may have another thing coming.
Daniel Cormier says Justin Gaethje retiring would ‘suck’, but UFC won’t be forced into giving him a title shot
During a video recently uploaded to his YouTube channel, Daniel Cormier reacted to Gaethje’s latest comments on his status as one of three vying for the first shot at the newly crowned lightweight king.
‘DC’ believes ‘The Highlight’ is serious when he says he’ll retire over fighting someone like Pimblett in a title eliminator, and that worries the former two-division champion given how he believes the UFC could respond to such an ultimatum.
“It sounds to me like Justin Gaethje, as he said before, ‘Hey, title fight or retirement,’ it sounds like he is more than willing to stand by that,” Cormier said.
“That would suck. MMA is better when Justin Gaethje is fighting. We just had to watch Dustin Poirier retire last weekend and that absolutely sucked.
“Justin seems very, very stern in the idea that if he has to fight Paddy Pimblett…he’s not gonna do it,” Cormier continued. “That sucks because I don’t know that it’s going to make the UFC say, ‘We have to give Justin Gaethje a title fight.’
“I don’t know that they’re gonna do that, especially when you go through all the things…that Arman has a case, Paddy has a case.”
Justin Gaethje reveals his dream UFC scenario
The likes of Cormier fear Gaethje not getting his wish and calling time on his career, but ‘The Highlight’ is still pushing for his dream ending to come to fruition for a more fitting conclusion to his MMA tenure.
While speaking to ESPN MMA, Gaethje laid out his best-case scenario moving forward, naming the targeted matchup he would want for his retirement fight after unseating Topuria later this year.
“I beat Topuria this year, defend it against Holloway on the White House lawn, and retire with the BMF and the championship belt.”
Gaethje will now be focused on convincing the UFC that he should be first in line to challenge ‘El Matador’.