Daniel Cormier reveals one big reason Ilia Topuria won’t get to fight Terence Crawford amid intense feud

UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier doesn’t believe Ilia Topuria will get his desired fight with Terence Crawford for one controversial reason.

Superstar fighters Terence Crawford and Ilia Topuria have added a new high-profile feud to the combat sports world in recent days. After Crawford’s dominant win over Canelo Alvarez last weekend, tensions are escalating between him and the brash UFC star Topuria.

Topuria has promised to knock out Crawford in the boxing ring in a potential crossover fight. Crawford has scoffed at Topuria’s guarantees, even going so far as to claim he’s never seen the UFC lightweight champion compete inside the Octagon.

A Crawford vs. Topuria fight would follow a similar blueprint as the 2017 showdown between Boxing Hall of Famer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor. Despite notable comparisons between Topuria and McGregor, a prominent analyst believes Topuria is at a disadvantage to get the Crawford fight for one key reason.

Daniel Cormier: Ilia Topuria not a big enough star for Terence Crawford fight

In a recent episode of Good Guy/Bad Guy, Cormier weighed in on Topuria’s ongoing pursuit of Crawford, and explained why he’ll fall short of securing the fight.

“Ilia is taking things out of the McGregor playbook, but you’ve got to have that stardom, and he’s not there yet,” Cormier said of Topuria.

“I think that’s what’s going to stop him from getting the fight. But I mean, when you’re Terence Crawford, and you’ve been dying for big opportunities your whole career, could an Ilia Topuria fight be the next thing that’s the biggest thing?

“Because who’s out there for him to fight that’s going to be a bigger name, in terms of bringing in a new fanbase to watch Terence Crawford, than Ilia Topuria?” Cormier continued. “There are some legs to it more than it would be normally, especially being that ‘Bud’ respects the UFC as much as he does, and he knows Ilia Topuria. He could have no-sold him, but he didn’t do that.” (h/t MMA Junkie)

A date and opponent for Topuria’s first UFC lightweight title defense have yet to be announced.