Daniel Cormier isn’t following the crowd when it comes to picking his UFC Fight of the Year. While most praise blockbuster matchups like Gaethje vs. Holloway or Pereira vs. Rountree, DC surprised everyone by naming Daniel Zellhuber vs. Esteban Ribovics from UFC 306 as his top fight of 2023.
On an episode of the Good Guy/Bad Guy Show on YouTube, Cormier explained not picking the superstar fighters and said,
“I’m not falling victim, guys, to the names. I’m actually going with the fight between Zellhuber and Ribovics at UFC 306, where these guys fought at The Sphere.”
DC highlighted the grit and heart both fighters displayed during their battle, which took place on Mexican Independence Day, as the deciding factors for his pick. He believes it embodied the spirit of MMA in a way that even some high-profile fights didn’t.
Although both Zellhuber and Ribovics did leave it all inside the octagon, the fight of the year is a spectacle, something that gets the fans out of their chairs, and to do so you need some star power in the fight.
When Justin Gaethje fell to Max Holloway at UFC 300, everyone in the arena felt the magnitude of the event. He was on his way to challenge Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title when the prospect of a BMF title defense presented itself. Going into the night, Holloway was the betting underdog. Nobody expected him to win and finish Gaethje the way he did, which is why it is seared into public memory.
Similarly, Khalil Rountree put on a show at UFC 307 against Alex Pereira. Pereira was expected to win the fight and to his credit, he did. But Rountree made him work for it like nobody had before. The light heavyweight bout had Pereira on the ropes with Rountree winning the first three rounds. That is until, his body just gave out to sustained damages over the course of these rounds, courtesy of Pereira’s precise and powerful shots.
The snapshot of a busted Rountree still trying to swing at a menacing Pereira is something that will not be forgotten for a very long time.
This is precisely why Chael Sonnen believes ‘DC‘ was trying to be a bit too smart with his answer and decided to troll him for it.
Sonnen asks DC to lay off the champagne
Sonnen believes that there’s a reason everyone picked the big names for the ‘Fight of the Year’ award. So when DC chose two relatively unknown fighters to show off his ball knowledge, Sonnen was quick to pick it up.
“Dominick said names that fans will know. They’re gonna have to go to Google for what you brought up. Real high-quality champagne you’re drinking there today, DC. Well done.”
Now, while Sonnen’s roast had everyone laughing, DC wasn’t wrong at all. Picking a fight that didn’t involve the usual headliners caught fans off guard, but it also reinforced DC’s message: the best fights aren’t always the most famous ones. It’s why the best of the craziest knockouts are from the undercards!
