Daniel Cormier says Charles Oliveira fighting so soon after getting knocked out by Ilia Topuria isn’t the best decision.
Less than four months after losing his vacant lightweight title fight to Topuria at UFC 317 in June, Oliveira (35-11 MMA, 23-11 UFC) will take on Rafael Fiziev (13-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) in the UFC Fight Night 261 headliner in Rio de Janeiro on Oct. 11. The event takes place at Farmasi Arena and streams on ESPN+.
“Anytime ‘Do Bronx’ fights, I get excited. The world gets excited. It’s fun. But then you start to digest the idea that Charles Oliveira last month got knocked out bad by Ilia Topuria,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “Everybody likes Charles Oliveira. We all do.
“He’s a nice guy, he’s a tremendous fighter, he has done so many great, fun things. But then you wonder why so soon? That was my thought once I calmed down from the excitement of, oh my goodness, Charles Oliveira is fighting again against Rafael Fiziev. It’s going to be a barnburner because both of these guys are great strikers.”
Cormier pointed to Alexander Volkanovski as an example, and how after getting knocked out by Islam Makhachev at UFC 294, he made a four-month turnaround to defend his featherweight title against Topuria at UFC 298 – where he ended up getting knocked out again.
He also used himself as an example, and how he avoided falling into a similar situation when he was an active fighter.
“I remember in 2017, I fought Jon Jones,” Cormier said. “I got knocked out in Anaheim. I got a fight offer right after, and I just said, ‘Nah, I need to let my brain heal. I’ve got to let my mind settle after going out like that.’ I knew that for me, to go back and fight that soon, it would not have gone well. So I waited to make sure that I was healthy, and that my brain was back OK before I stepped back into the octagon.”
