Daniel Cormier shoots down an interim LW title fight amidst Islam Makhachev’s hiatus: “Speaking titles into existence?”

UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier scoffed at Arman Tsarukyan’s idea for an interim title fight as Islam Makhachev recovers from injury.

Makhachev is sidelined with a hand injury he suffered during his UFC 302 title fight with Dustin Poirier earlier this year. He was originally anticipated to headline UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi, but due to his injury, he won’t be fully recovered in time for the event.

Makhachev will likely face Arman Tsarukyan upon his return. Tsarukyan most recently defeated former titleholder Charles Oliveira at UFC 300.

During Makhachev’s recovery, Tsarukayn recently pitched an interim title fight to keep the division active. He listed a few opponents for a potential interim title fight, as you can view here.

Cormier, Makhachev’s good friend and former teammate, feels an interim title bout isn’t needed due to Makhachev’s recent activity.

Daniel Cormier responds to Arman Tsarukyan’s interim title talk

In a recent episode of Good Guy/Bad Guy with Chael Sonnen, Cormier responded to Tsarukyan’s pitch for an interim title fight.

“You get hurt, at times. Islam Makhachev has been active. He fought in October in Abu Dhabi against Alexander Volkanovski, he fought in [June] in Newark,” Cormier said. “If he was to fight in October, it would’ve been three fights in a calendar year. There is no need for an interim championship! When in the world did we start to speak titles into existence?

“Could you imagine, Chael, if when you were chasing down Anderson Silva, you go ‘Well, I’ll fight for the interim title! He ain’t ready in six months!’. And they’d say ‘Okay, Chael, you get to fight Brian Stann’. You would’ve said ‘Oh my god! I’m about to be a world champion!’. Who does Tsarukyan even fight for an interim championship? Why do we create belts, or at least trying? It just doesn’t need to be, when the champion has fought twice in seven months and is not going to be gone for that long.”

Makhachev won the then-vacant lightweight title over Oliveira at UFC 280. He defeated Alexander Volkanovski in back-to-back fights in 2023, followed up by his most recent win over Poirier.