Daniel Cormier has dismissed Khabib Nurmagomedov’s claim that Arman Tsarukyan would be a heavy favorite against Ilia Topuria.
Cormier was responding after “The Eagle” said in an interview earlier this week that Tsarukyan (22-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) would most likely outwrestle current UFC lightweight champion Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) if the two were to meet inside the Octagon.
"I believe right now, the best lightweight is (Tsarukyan)... I'd say it's 80%-20% in Arman's favor.” Nurmagomedov told Kamil Gadzhiyev earlier this week. “We all know the level of wrestling that (Max) Holloway and Charles Oliveira had. It's practically nonexistent... But a guy who [wrestles], Topuria hasn't faced that. He's only fought strikers.
“I know the UFC is cautious, they don't want to throw him to Topuria too quickly. Right now, Topuria is a bigger star than Arman. But if Arman gets a big win, where can they hide him? They won't be able to."
Now Cormier—a longtime friend and former training partner of ex-UFC lightweight champion Nurmagomedov—has poured cold water on those claims.
“80-20 is crazy, though, come on, man,” Cormier said this week in a video posted to his YouTube channel. “80-20 is hard when anyone's fighting. The only time 80-20 could be thought of in fights has been in the case of Khabib and Jon Jones. They're the only people that have gone through this whole thing without losing. They are the only two. So you could have possibly said, well, yeah, it's probably 80 (percent) that guy's way because they never lose.
“But guess who else hasn’t lost? Ilia Topuria! So to put him on the opposite side of that 80-20 is crazy to me. I don't believe that for one second. I really do disagree with Khabib on that one. There is not a guy in the world that I believe is gonna beat Ilia Topuria eight out of ten times. That's just the truth.”
