Daniel Cormier urges Nassourdine Imavov to throw his name in the hat after rumors of UFC champion Dricus Du Plessis’ injury.
With UFC middleweight champion Du Plessis allegedly sidelined, Caio Borralho (17-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) has campaigned to fight No. 1 contender Khamzat Chimaev for the interim title.
Cormier is against the idea of an interim title, but thinks it would be unfair for Imavov (16-4 MMA, 8-2 UFC) not to be involved in a big fight after finishing former champion Israel Adesanya at UFC Fight Night 250.
“If I am Imavov, I’m saying, ‘Listen, I want to be involved,'” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “‘This trifecta becomes a foursome because I need to be involved. I don’t care what you’re doing, whatever you’re doing needs to involve me because I have earned that. When Brendan Allen was riding hot, I beat him.
“‘You told me to fight Izzy. I beat him. I have earned my chance to fight one of the best.’ And granted, an interim title fight does not seem as exciting when you input Imavov over maybe Borralho, but just a big fight, not for an interim title as I’m saying it should be.”
Borralho initially called out Imavov, but his challenge was dismissed. Imavov is focused on fighting upwards, and Cormier agrees with him.
“Imavov deserves to be there, man,” Cormier said. “Let’s call a spade a spade. He deserves to be there, and I hope that they don’t forget about this dude, because this dude has earned his opportunity to fight in that level of competition with those level of guys.”
