Daniel Cormier tog hem tungviktsbältet förra året, när han mötte mästaren Stipe Miocic och knockade honom i den första ronden. Han blev dubbelmästare, med det tidigare bältet i lätt tungvikt.
Han mötte efter detta Jon Jones där han blev av med det ena bältet och när returmatchen mot Miocic kom tidigare i år, blev han själv knockad av den forne mästaren Miocic under UFC 241.
Det varit på tal om en eventuell trilogi mellan de två men ännu är ingenting bestämt. Enligt UFC:s VD Dana White jobbar man på det tredje mötet.
Tungviktaren Arjan Bhullar som nyligen skrev på för ONE FC och är vän med Cormier, tror att han lyckas återta bältet från Miocic om de möts igen.
Bhullar och Cormier känt varandra under 15 år och har tränat tillsammans under lång tid på American Kickboxing Academy.
Det här hade han att säga via ’BJPenn.com’:
It was bittersweet to see the result, and seeing it end the way it did was upsetting. That’s not how you envision going. But the reason I say bittersweet; the sweetness was that [Cormier] was winning the fight. He wrestled him up the first round, punched him up the following two, he looked good, man. He looked comfortable — almost too comfortable.
I’ve known him for over 15 years. When you care for someone like that, it’s hard to watch, but it also gives you confidence knowing he was able to beat him in every aspect of the fight — obviously, without the ending in play.
As an athlete, you talk about it, you see it all the time: you always want to go out with your arm raised [in victory]. He deserves that [opportunity]. He’s earned that with his body of work. It’s never guaranteed, but you can always try to make it happen. If the will is there, you go for it, and nobody can answer that question for him. That’s up to him, and what he has inside. Is the will there? Is his family on board? Obviously the support network, in terms of the coaches, is always there, but it really comes down to him and what he feels inside, and it seems as though he feels [the will] is there. Everybody is going to rally around him. He’s the [American Kickboxing Academy] Captain for a reason.
Bhillar tror att Cormier lyckas avsluta sin karriär med en seger, med tanke på hur han kämpade mot Miocic innan han knockades.
It gives you hope that he’s able to write the last chapter of his career on his terms. It’s tough. Stipe is such a tough, tough competitor. He’s so resilient. But I think ‘DC’ is special. He’s shown that Stipe is hittable, he’s shown that Stipe can be taken down and held down. Although it’s not easy to take him down, [the possibility is] there. Without being biased, I obviously have to lean towards my guy based on those facts.
Bhullar tror inte att matchen blir enkel för Cormier, men han känner på sig att Cormier skulle avsluta med knockout i de senare ronderna.
You have to look at Stipe’s resilience, and you have to expect a long, drawn-out war; very taxing, very tactical. It’s going to be a fourth-, fifth-round kind of fight. That’s how I see it. It’s going to go deep, but it’s going to be our day.
Tror ni att Cormier lyckas ta tillbaka bältet från Miocic i ett trilogimöte? Varför eller varför inte?
