Daniel Cormier dismisses PFL and Bellator, says UFC is the only place to earn “Superstardom”

UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier feels the UFC is the only MMA promotion in which athletes truly have an opportunity to achieve a superstar fame level.

Cormier sat cage-side as UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira defeated Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307. Pereira defended the belt for the third time in just seven months and rallied from early adversity to finish Rountree.

Cormier is a student of MMA, going back to his rapid rise to the UFC and multiple world championships. Before he signed with the UFC, he made a name for himself in promotions like Strikeforce and King of the Cage.

Cormier achieved legend status during his UFC run. As PFL and Bellator attempt to close the gap with the UFC and add more options for fighters, Cormier believes these promotions are biting off more than they can chew.

Daniel Cormier: PFL “Throwing s*** at the wall” with Kayla Harrison disses

During a recent episode of Funky and the Champ with Ben Askren, Cormier weighed in on the monopoly in modern mixed martial arts.

“The NBA doesn’t exist without the best players in the world,” Cormier explained. “There are 100 leagues around the world, but they can never hold a candle to what the NBA is, so the best come and play here…there’s one place to fight, just one place. Because guess what? There’s only one place that honestly, not even trying to be a UFC guy, where you reach superstardom. One place where you fight the best in the world, where you maximize your visibility and earnings inside the Octagon and outside…

“Every other organization tries. And then eventually, it starts to falter,” Cormier continued. “I don’t understand why. The only one who has found success is Scott Coker, he’s the only guy who has found sustained success outside the UFC…every year the gap widens, and not even just a little bit, it doubles…every time the PFL uses the Kayla Harrison loss to promote someone on another card, that just tells you that they’re just throwing s*** at the wall, hoping something sticks.”

Kayla Harison signed with the UFC following a long, decorated tenure with PFL. Despite recent jabs from PFL founder Donn Davis, Harrison has amassed a 2-0 record in her UFC career.