Daniel Cormier Believes Magomed Ankalaev Is ‘Next and a Tough Match-Up’ for Alex Pereira

Daniel Cormier is in tandem with Ali Abdelaziz on who Alex Pereira should fight next. Although fans and some UFC fighters alike want to see ‘Poatan’ take on Jon Jones, ‘DC’ believes Magomed Ankalaev is the guy.

Cormier saw Pereira’s destructive power firsthand as he watched Prochazka buckle to the floor from the commentator’s desk. Following the fight, he sat at the same desk and filmed a recap of the entire event.

Pereira has now beaten three former champions of the light heavyweight division, virtually wiping out all his competition in it.

So what’s next for him? Well, Cormier believes he has the perfect answer to that question as he revealed on his YouTube channel. Speaking of Ankalaev, the former double champ said that the Russian is a fighter Pereira needs to test himself against as other than him, there seems to be nobody up to the task.

“Now does he have people to fight? Absolutely. Still has Ankalaev out there, still has that fight. But outside of Ankalaev I don’t know who he could fight”

The obvious answer would be Jamahal Hill, but he still hasn’t gotten another win to his name to secure a rematch with Pereira.

A fight against Ankalaev would put the champ’s wrestling to the test, something we have not seen yet, despite encouraging proclamations by DC himself.

Meanwhile, amidst all the conversation on who’s next, the one possibility that keeps coming up is a move to heavyweight. However, UFC president Dana White is not particularly a fan of the idea.

Why UFC President doesn’t want ‘Poatan’ to move up to heavyweight?

White was actually furious at reporters during the UFC 303 post-fight press conference after they kept asking him about the possibility of Pereira moving up to the heavyweight division.

The reporters were just echoing the demands of the fans in front of the UFC president. However, White justified his stance and said that if he had cleaned out the division, there might be chance. Mentioning Pereira’s age as a factor, White said,

“If he cleaned out a division and we were like there’s literally nobody left for this guy to fight..and he’s 37, if he wants to move up to heavyweight but that’s not the case….it’s just a whole other level.”

 

Dana White PASSIONATELY defends Jon Jones’ top P4P status in the face of questions about an Alex Pereira move to heavyweight after #UFC303

“If you’re an educated adult who knows the fight business, you cannot deny.” pic.twitter.com/ycUNvbgE4P

— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) June 30, 2024

Meanwhile, since the chatter about Jon Jones holding up the division by being injured and not fighting for or vacating his light heavyweight title has gained momentum, White believes fans aren’t giving him the respect he deserves.

For the unversed, there is a section of the internet that believes Pereira could finish Jones’ reign and become the company’s first three division champion. That said, White begs to differ.