Daniel Cormier believes Arman Tsarukyan should be next for Islam Makhachev following UFC 311: “It has to be him!”

By Josh Evanoff - January 21, 2025

UFC commentator Daniel Cormier believes Arman Tsarukyan should still be next for Islam Makhachev.

Daniel Cormier Arman Tsarukyan

The lightweight champion is fresh off his return to the cage in the main event of UFC 311 on Saturday. Back for the first time since submitting Dustin Poirier last June, Islam Makhachev was set to meet Arman Tsarukyan. The bout was going to be a rematch of their prior meeting in April 2019, which saw the Russian win by unanimous decision.

Sadly, the bout didn’t come to fruition. During weigh-in day, Arman Tsarukyan withdrew from the bout due to a sudden neck injury. As a result, undercard fighter Renato Moicano was bumped up from a fight against Beneil Dariush to the main event. In the headliner, it took just one round for Islam Makhachev to score a submission win.

Following the fight, Dana White was asked what was next for the lightweight champion at the UFC 311 post-fight presser. There, the promoter stated that it definitely wouldn’t be Arman Tsarukyan. It’s well known that White isn’t a fan of short-notice pullouts, and intends to make the Armenian fighter re-earn a rematch against Islam Makhachev.

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Daniel Cormier

(via ESPN)

Daniel Cormier discusses Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan rebooking following UFC 311

Speaking on his YouTube channel earlier this week, Daniel Cormier reacted to Dana White’s comments. There, the UFC Hall of Famer surprisingly disagreed with his boss, stating that Arman Tsarukyan needs to be next for Islam Makhachev. When looking at how the lightweight champion has handled the division, ‘DC’ believes a new challenge is needed.

“I still believe it needs to be [Arman] Tsarukyan.” Daniel Cormier stated in the YouTube video, discussing Islam Makhachev’s return at UFC 311. “I believe that Tsarukyan, even though it’s a rematch and even though we know Charles [Oliveira] is supposed to be next, I still feel like Tsarukyan’s size, his abilities, his skillset, could present the biggest problems for Makhachev.”

He continued, “Look at what [Islam] does to the rest. He has submitted or finished so many of the best lightweights in the world. Think about this, he finished Oliveira to become the champ. He finished [Alexander] Volkanovski in the rematch. He finished Dustin Poirier in his last title defense, and now he’s finished Renato Moicano.”

What do you make of these comments from UFC commentator Daniel Cormier? Do you want to see Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan II?

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


Topics:

Arman Tsarukyan Daniel Cormier Islam Makhachev UFC