Daniel Cormier wonders how Colby Covington will keep up his gimmick if he’s not winning.
[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] wonders how [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] will keep his gimmick up if he’s not winning.
Covington (17-5 MMA, 12-5 UFC) lost his second consecutive fight when he suffered a third-round doctor stoppage TKO to Joaquin Buckley in this past Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 63 headliner at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. Covington lost the first two round but appeared to be rallying in the third before the doctor waived the fight off due to a gash on his right eyelid.
Cormier is not ready to completely write off Covington just yet, but with the former interim welterweight champion on a losing skid for the first time in his career, Cormier questions how it will impact his character that leans all the way into being obsessed with Donald Trump.
“I think he’ll win another UFC fight at some point. I just worry or wonder how he’s going to handle the kickback now from his gimmick,” Cormier told MMA Junkie. “The gimmick is all good whenever you’re winning, but then you’ve got to deal with a lot of enemies whenever things go sideways. I think that’s ultimately going to determine how Colby bounces back when he steps back in the octagon.”
Covington has lost three of his past four fights but has been involved in several marquee matchups and title fights in the past seven years. He fell short in his three attempts at undisputed UFC gold – twice to Kamaru Usman, and most recently Leon Edwards last December at UFC 296.
Daniel Cormier thinks Dana White’s confidence UFC titles will be unified means Jon Jones got “a number big enough” to face Tom Aspinall.
[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] is confident the UFC heavyweight title unification bout between [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] and [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] will come to fruition in 2025.
UFC CEO Dana White recently 100 percent guaranteed that Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) and interim champ Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) will clash in a highly anticipated matchup next year.
If White’s confidence becomes reality and the unification bout does materialize, Cormier thinks Jones – win or lose – will retire from active competition afterward.
“(White’s comment) tells me that they’re getting it done,” Cormier told MMA Junkie. “It tells me that they’ve given Jon Jones a number big enough to get it done, because I always thought that Jones was kind of negotiating publicly. I don’t think for a second he’s afraid of anyone. I think that he was kind of going, ‘I want a number so big that I’m going to ride off into the sunset and be done.’
“But he’s also kind of laying the foundation for people to recognize that it’s almost over. He’s about done, right? So, start getting ready for life after Jon Jones because I do believe that he’s laid the foundation for a massive payday, but what will be his final payday. I don’t think he’ll be a guy that if he gets beat, or if the fights get more competitive, will just stick around trying to make money.”
Although it’s rare for White to speak publicly about an unannounced matchup with the confidence he did when discussing Jones vs. Aspinall, nothing is official as of yet. The details when it comes to date and location are still unconfirmed, and until that is sorted, a degree of uncertainty will exist.
Cormier has faith White’s words will prove accurate, though, and thinks it would be in Jones’ best interest to schedule things for the nearest available date.
“He (White) would say that if he feels like they’re getting close or it’s done,” Cormier said. “I would probably think to the summer. If I was Jon Jones, I would do this earlier than later because every month that passes, he just gets older, and Tom Aspinall gets better. So, I would try and do this as soon as possible. I wouldn’t want to wait until New York next year, where he’s almost 38, 39 years old with that kid just continuing to improve.”
Even though Conor McGregor tweeted it, UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier isn’t so sure about a boxing match with Logan Paul.
Even though [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] tweeted it, UFC Hall of Famer [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] isn’t so sure about a boxing match with Logan Paul.
McGregor raised eyebrows Tuesday with a middle-of-the-night X post in which he claimed to have agreed to fight Paul in an exhibition in India. Subsequent reports have indicated McGregor vs. Paul is seriously being discussed as something that could happen, but Cormier isn’t completely buying in quite yet.
“We talk about impact. That right there tells you the impact of Conor McGregor,” Cormier told MMA Junkie on Wednesday. “Conor McGregor has told us a lot of things over the last three years. None of them have come to fruition. I’m gonna have to see it to believe it.”
Since McGregor’s tweet, a lot has been made about UFC CEO Dana White’s comments following last Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 63 event in Tampa. White told reporters about “something in the works” that people would “never f*cking see coming for 2025,” which has fans and pundits wondering if he was referring to McGregor vs. Paul.
Cormier, who has a good relationship with White, wouldn’t speculate on whether or not those remarks were about McGregor vs. Paul.
If McGregor does fight Paul in a boxing exhibition, Cormier doesn’t think that will be it for the former UFC two-division champion and considers his return to MMA to be a must.
Cormier believes a McGregor comeback to the UFC is of the utmost importance in the wake of him being found liable for sexual assault last month.
“I think he’s gonna fight in the octagon. I think he has to, though,” Cormier said. “For Conor McGregor to – he’s got to rinse some of the stench off of him from everything that’s happened outside of the octagon. Where he made his home is inside that cage, and I think at some point he’s gonna have to get back there.”
McGregor almost come back to the UFC over the summer as he was set to headline UFC 303 against Michael Chandler. However, McGregor had to withdraw roughly a month out from the event because of a broken pinky toe suffered in training.
McGregor hasn’t competed since a July 2021 doctor’s stoppage TKO loss to Dustin Poirier in which he broke his leg at the end of the first round.
Daniel Cormier explains why he sees star potential in a top UFC welterweight contender.
[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] sees star potential in a top UFC welterweight contender.
When assessing the landscape at 170 pounds, Cormier believes [autotag]Jack Della Maddalena[/autotag] (17-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) could be a big draw if he becomes champion. Unbeaten in the octagon, Della Maddalena hasn’t competed since rallying to knock out Gilbert Burns at UFC 299 in March. He has been recovering from complications due to arm surgery.
“I think Jack Della Maddalena is one fight away from becoming a guy fighting for the belt,” Cormier said on “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Chael Sonnen. “If that fight is against Kamaru Usman, he will be rushed into that title fight. Let me tell you something about the UFC: Vince McMahon famously said, ‘I don’t like the UFC because I cannot control the outcome.’ What the UFC will do, they do know how to follow a game plan and they do know star-building.
“So when you get a guy like Jack Della Maddalena who has an entire country behind him, that everybody is excited about, they will find a way to get him into the position if he earns it. So, if he beats a Kamaru Usman, there will be no other obstacle because, if I am being honest with you, right now at 170, the most marketable guy as a champion right now is Jack Della Maddalena because of where he’s from, because of the entire country behind him, and because of the way they are excited about him.”
Cormier used Leon Edwards as an example to point out how the Brit was able to emerge as a pay-per-view headliner once he became champion. After knocking out Kamaru Usman to claim the welterweight title in the UFC 278 main event, Edwards defeated Usman again at UFC 286, followed by a title defense over Colby Covington at UFC 296.
He would go on to lose his title to Belal Muhammad at UFC 304 in July – his fourth-straight headliner.
Daniel Cormier theorizes that Ilia Topuria isn’t motivated to defend his UFC featherweight title and can understand why.
[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] theorizes that UFC featherweight champion [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] is no longer motivated to defend his title.
“When you beat the best guys, especially the two guys that ruled the division for so long, there can be a little bit of fatigue in there,” Cormier said on his “Funky and the Champ” show with Ben Askren. “It’s not like muscle fatigue; it’s mental fatigue. You have to be so up to do what he did to Max Holloway and to do what he did to Volkanovski.
“I don’t care what people tell you. The only ones that believe that he would do what he did was Ilia Topuria and his team. You can’t think that that was going to happen just being on the outside. He went out, and he knocked out Max Holloway. That doesn’t happen. You don’t knock out Max Holloway. He knocked out Volkanovski. You don’t do those things back to back.”
There are fresh matchups such as Movsar Evloev and Diego Lopes awaiting Topuria at featherweight, but Cormier explains that after “El Matador” took out the biggest names, he’ll have a hard time getting up for the rising contenders.
“Now (he) went from fighting two established veteran stars, people that sell pay-per-view, the BMF champion, to now (he’s) got to fight a guy that’s on the upswing,” Cormier said. “A guy that’s on the rise, a guy that truly is who I was only a couple fights ago.”
Daniel Cormier wasn’t a fan of the in-cage faceoff between Belal Muhammad and Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310.
[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] wasn’t a fan of the in-cage faceoff between [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] and [autotag]Shavkat Rakhmonov[/autotag] at UFC 310.
Security initially wouldn’t let Muhammad into the cage, and Joe Rogan didn’t help matters when he joked on the microphone that security didn’t know he’s the champion. Cormier doesn’t think the faceoff helped promote the fight any more and saw the language barrier between Rakhmonov and Muhammad as an issue.
“I’ve got to be honest. It was weird,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “I don’t love faceoffs when you have a translator, especially when Belal, as much as people want to hate him, he’s not a disrespectful guy. So it doesn’t make that moment that you’re looking for when you bring a champion into the ring. When Volk came in after Topuria beat Max, they shook hands and they left. It was very respectful.
“But you understood what they were saying. When (Sean) O’Malley was in there, and he was about to fight Aljo (Sterling) for the belt, Merab (Dvalishvili) takes the jacket, that makes a memory. This tonight, I don’t think it served the purpose that you want, as a promotion, in regards to what you’re going to do to try to build that fight.”
Muhammad was initially scheduled to defend his title against Rakhmonov in Saturday’s main event, but a bone infection in his toe forced him to withdraw. He was cleared to return to training last week.
Here’s what you need to know to watch UFC 310 on pay-per-view, ESPN2 and ESPN+.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
The UFC’s 14th and final pay-per-view event of 2024 goes down Saturday in “Sin City.”
Here’s how to watch UFC 310 with the flyweight title on the line at the top of the card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Broadcast and streaming info
Jon Anik
UFC 310 has a main card that begins at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT) on pay-per-view (via ESPN+). The four-fight preliminary card airs on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. ET. Five early prelims stream on ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET.
[autotag]Dan Hellie[/autotag] will host the official UFC 310 weigh-in show on Friday.
He’ll be joined by UFC Hall of Famer [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag], as well as others to be named shortly.
Former UFC title challenger [autotag]Chael Sonnen[/autotag] and former UFC/WEC bantamweight champion [autotag]Dominick Cruz[/autotag] will serve as a desk analysts on the UFC 310 post-fight show and throughout the card, when necessary.
[autotag]Brett Okamoto[/autotag] will serve as the host. Longtime UFC correspondent [autotag]Megan Olivi[/autotag] will conduct pre and post-fight interviews backstage with some of the athletes on the UFC 310 card, as well as report additional real-time updates for the event.
[autotag]Jon Anik[/autotag] will serve as the leading man on the mic from cageside at UFC 310. He will command play-by-play alongside color commentators, former two-division UFC champion Cormier and [autotag]Joe Rogan[/autotag]. Din Thomas will also contribute to the broadcast as a coach-analyst.
(Mike Bohn, MMA Junkie)
Main event: Alexandre Pantoja
May 4, 2024; Rio de Janeiro, RJ, BRAZIL; Alexandre Pantoja (red gloves) fights against Steve Erceg (blue gloves) during UFC 301 at Rio Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jason Silva-USA TODAY Sports
Record: 28-5 MMA, 12-3 UFC Opponent: Kai Asakura (21-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) Division: Flyweight Key wins: Steve Erceg, Brandon Royval (twice), Brandon Moreno (twice), Alex Perez, Manel Kape Misc.: The Brazilian won the flyweight title with a split decision over Brandon Moreno in mid-2023 and has defended it with decisions over Brandon Royval and Steve Erceg.
Main event: Kai Asakura
Kai Asakura def. Juan Archuleta at Rizin 45
Record: 21-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC Opponent: Alexandre Pantoja (28-5 MMA, 12-3 UFC) Division: Flyweight Key wins:Misc.: Former Rizin champ Asakura will be a trivia question some day as one of the few fighters whose UFC debuts have been in title fights. He won the Rizin belt against former Bellator champion Juan Archuleta nearly a year ago.
Co-main event: Ian Machado Garry
Jun 29, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Ian Machado Garry (red gloves) fights Michael Page (not pictured) during UFC 303 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Record: 18-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC Opponent: Shavkat Rakhmonov (15-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) Division: Welterweight Key wins: Michael Page, Geoff Neal, Neil Magny, Daniel Rodriguez Misc.: Garry moved up a week from a planned fight with Joaquin Buckley to meet Rakhmonov in a title eliminator, instead.
Co-main event: Shavkat Rakhmonov
Shavkat Rakhmonov
Record: 15-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC Opponent: Ian Machado Garry (18-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) Division: Welterweight Key wins: Stephen Thompson, Geoff Neal, Neil Magny, Michel Prazeres Misc.: The 30-year-old from Kazakhstan was set to fight Belal Muhammad for the title this week until Muhammad pulled out. All 18 of his wins are by stoppage.
UFC 310 main card betting odds
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
Champ Alexandre Pantoja (-275) vs. Kai Asakura (+225) – for flyweight title
Ian Machado Garry (+290) vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov (-390)
Ciryl Gane (-340) vs. Alexander Volkov (+260)
Kron Gracie (+450) vs. Bryce Mitchell (-725)
Dooho Choi (+120) vs. Nate Landwehr (-140)
UFC 310 prelim betting odds
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN2, 8 p.m. ET)
Dominick Reyes (-360) vs. Anthony Smith (+270)
Themba Gorimbo (-155) vs. Vicente Luque (+130)
Movsar Evloev (-265) vs. Aljamain Sterling (+215)
Bryan Battle (-235) vs. Randy Brown (+190)
UFC 310 early prelim betting odds
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
Eryk Anders (-105) vs. Chris Weidman (-115)
Cody Durden (+130) vs. Joshua Van (-155)
Michael Chiesa (+105) vs. Max Griffin (-125)
Clay Guida (+650) vs. Chase Hooper (-1150)
Lukasz Brzeski (+425) vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu (-650)
UFC 310 preview videos
UFC 310 full fight videos
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.
Daniel Cormier isn’t sure if Conor McGregor’s image will ever recover from his ongoing sexual assault case.
[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] isn’t sure if [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag]’s image will ever recover from his ongoing sexual assault case.
This past Friday, McGregor was found liable for a 2018 sexual assault of a woman at a Dublin hotel. As a result, the jury ordered McGregor pay approximately $260,000 in damages to the victim, Nikita Hand.
With Proper No. Twelve parent company Proximo Spirits announcing that it will no longer feature McGregor in association with the brand, and IO Interactive also announcing that McGregor’s character will be removed from the popular “Hitman” video game series, Cormier says McGregor will likely continue facing real-life consequences.
“It’s unfortunate because this is one of the biggest stars that this sport has ever seen. We’ve never seen anything like a Conor McGregor in mixed martial arts,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “For a guy of that stature to come from our sport and be tied to something as bad as this, it really does suck. There are going to be some long-term effects from this.”
“When I hear things like this, sometimes (celebrities) are targeted – especially guys that carry that type of cache, that type of name recognition,” Cormier said. “But with Conor, it seems like there has been more than one instance where stuff like this has come up. Like I said, I am not judging this man. I don’t know.
“I wasn’t there. You know who knows? Conor and that girl. But, this isn’t the first time that we have seen something like that so, you’re a little less inclined to be, ‘Oh, this is a gold digger that’s trying to do this.’ But do know that as long as there have been sports, there have been instances like this.”
Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and current champion Islam Makhachev jumped at the opportunity to take shots at McGregor. Cormier was especially surprised with Makhachev’s reaction, but acknowledges that there is deep-rooted hatred between both sides.
“It was a matter of time till this filthy bastard be exposed. Alcoholic, drug junkie + rapist. Many more facts to come out, trust me!”
It was a matter of time till this filthy bastard be exposed. Alcoholic, drug junkie + rapist. Many more facts to come out, trust me! https://t.co/XTtJ0CJwZk
“Honestly, it seems a little bit off-brand for Islam,” Cormier said. “I know the boys. The boys love to talk trash. The boys love to mess around. The boys will tell you what they feel. It feels off-brand, but in this case, I feel like it could be because this rivalry between these boys from Dagestan and Conor McGregor has been as nasty as any rivalry as we have seen in mixed martial arts.”
Daniel Cormier is surprised to see Bo Nickal upset at him over his UFC 309 commentary.
[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] is surprised to see [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag] upset at him over his UFC 309 commentary.
During Nickal’s fight with Paul Craig this past Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York, Cormier said Nickal showed that he’s not ready for someone like Khamzat Chimaev. Nickal won the fight by unanimous decision, but did not attempt a single takedown.
Nickal (7-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) didn’t appreciate Cormier’s comments, but the former UFC dual-champion explains that the standout wrestler just needs more work before competing against the upper echelon at middleweight.
“Bo Nickal is a bit upset with the commentary during the fight last week,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “This one kind of took me a little bit by surprise because I do like Bo, and I do believe that at some point he’s going to be a champion. I just think that he’s a respectful guy. So, he’s trying to say things in the nicest way he possibly can, but I think he may have misunderstood what I’m trying to say. What I was more trying to say in this fight is, let’s not rush him into fights with people who are much more experienced. That is how good he has done in a short period of time.
“You know what’s the craziest thing? After this weekend, right after the fight, people called me and said I was a Bo apologist. I was being apologetic for his performance, almost making excuses for him. That’s crazy because it’s odd that a fighter can interpret it so much different than other people in the world. I thought he did really good. I have no problem with Bo Nickal. I believe he’s going to be fine. I don’t have a problem with the performance. I thought he fought really well, but there’s room for improvement. Let’s just take our time – we don’t need to rush him.”
After UFC 309, Chael Sonnen and Daniel Cormier doubt Francis Ngannou’s chances against Jon Jones.
After UFC 309, [autotag]Chael Sonnen[/autotag] and [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] doubt [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag]’s chances against [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag].
Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) retained his UFC heavyweight title when he finished Stipe Miocic in the third round with a spinning back kick to the body in Saturday’s main event at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Watching Jones dominate Miocic (20-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC) from start to finish makes Sonnen think former UFC heavyweight champ and current PFL heavyweight superfights champ Ngannou would’ve struggled against Jones.
“Do you know what Jon would have done to Francis Ngannou in hindsight?” Sonnen said on “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Daniel Cormier. “Now that we look back, Jon would have picked that big man a part. I mean, I’m just sharing with you, like, that’s a big man’s nightmare. Jon’s not a heavyweight; Jon is fighting at heavyweight. There’s a massive difference.”
Jones and Ngannou were on a collision course before Ngannou opted to sign with PFL. Cormier, who fought Jones twice, was especially impressed with his former rival’s wrestling.
“Yes, dude, Francis would have struggled with Jones,” Cormier said. “Dude, he threw Stipe down and just beat the crap out of him. He literally grabbed him by the neck, stepped behind his leg and threw him down. He choke slammed him and just beat him on the ground.”
