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Former UFC double champion Daniel Cormier honestly believes that Islam Makhachev's next title defense will be against Justin Gaethje. Considering Gaethje is not on a winning streak, and the undefeated Ilia Topuria has expressed interest in challenging Makhachev, the former champion has made a bold claim
Gaethje recently fought Rafael Fiziev at UFC 313, winning via unanimous decision in a short-notice fight. Meanwhile, Makhachev defended the lightweight title against Renato Moicano at UFC 311, also on short notice.
Cormier made the bold prediction on the recent episode of his Funky and the Champ show with Ben Askren:
"I honestly believe that's who [Gaethje] is going to fight for the belt. I believe it's going to be Gaethje," said Cormier.
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Ben Askren pointed out that Gaethje lost to Max Holloway by knockout two fights ago, but Cormier doubled down.
Moreover, he even mentioned why Islam Makhachev should be angling for a fight with 'The Highlight':
"I think it's going to be Gaethje. I think that's, if I'm team Makhachev, I'm asking for Justin Gaethje because that's a big-name fight. It's the guy that carries a lot of name recognition. I think that's going to be the fight if I'm being honest with you," Cormier added.
Check out Daniel Cormier's comments below (9:05):
Daniel Cormier's co-host explains why Islam Makhachev shouldn't fight Justin Gaethje
Unlike Daniel Cormier, Ben Askren wants Ilia Topuria to be the next lightweight title challenger for Islam Makachev.
Islam Makhachev's team has reportedly made it clear that Topuria must first fight for a number one contender spot before getting a chance to challenge the lightweight kingpin.
When Cormier made the case against Topuria for a lightweight title shot, Askren countered with an intriguing argument on the aforementioned podcast.
"Those two featherweights, Holloway has the very, very recent win against Justin Gaethje at lightweight, at which they competed at lightweight, right? And then Volkanovski had the very competitive bout with Islam Makhachev. So you have both of those guys also competing at lightweight and having relatively good results." [11:07]
Despite the lightweight title picture still not being clear, Askren is hopeful the fight will be made.
He pointed out that Dana White having autocratic authority to make fights will benefit in this scenario, although he is against a promoter having too much power.
