Daniel Cormier doesn’t believe Ilia Topuria “has much say in this as he thinks he does” with potential Max Holloway title fight

Daniel Cormier has questioned how much of a say Ilia Topuria has in his potential showdown with Max Holloway.

Since knocking out Alexander Volkanovski, Ilia Topuria has been enjoying life as one of the UFC’s biggest new stars. He’s a huge name in Spain, he’s the featherweight champion of the world, and he has plenty of fighters calling him out.

The two most obvious matchups for him are Alexander Volkanovski in a rematch, and Max Holloway in a featherweight superfight.

RELATED: Max Holloway blasts Ilia Topuria for naming lone stipulation for accepting title fight: “That’s un-BMF”

Topuria has recently been trying to dictate terms for his meeting with ‘Blessed’. In the eyes of Daniel Cormier, though, Ilia may not have as much power as he thinks.

Cormier questions Topuria

“I think Ilia Topuria needs to come right out and say, ‘Hey, I want Max Holloway on this date,’” Cormier explained on his YouTube channel. “Then it would be on Max. … Because now, Max is the guy — and sure he has the ‘BMF’ title — but he wants the featherweight championship. Ilia has that. When Ilia says, ‘I want this fight on this date,’ Max will have to say, ‘OK,’ or he will say no and they will move on.

“And then Ilia Topuria, at that point, can then start to go, ‘I don’t want to fight him. He had his chance, he could’ve did it then, he didn’t want to play by the rules.’ He has to make a statement saying, ‘This is what I want as the champ,’ and then put the ball in Max’s court to deny it. But right now, it’s not coming off great, because he’s batting away all of these guys with no clear idea of who else there is.”

“Ilia Topuria is the champ, and as the champ, at times, you have some say into who you’re going to fight, when you’re going to fight him, when you’re ready, and all of that,” Cormier said. “I don’t know, though, if he has as much say in this as he thinks he does.

“Max Holloway to me is clearly the guy, [but] if not, [it’s] Alexander Volkanovski. Max told me that. Him and I spoke personally, and he goes, ‘I thought Volk was going to get a rematch. How in the world does he not get a rematch?’ This is coming from the guy that’s waiting for the title fight. But he recognizes, ‘Look, man, this dude beat me three times, long reigning champion, if anyone deserves an immediate rematch, it’s this guy.’”

Quotes via MMA Fighting

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