Daniel Cormier doesn’t love the idea of Max Holloway jumping right back into the deep end.

Holloway came up short in his bid to reclaim the featherweight title when he got knocked out by Ilia Topuria in the main event of UFC 308. It was the first knockout loss of Holloway’s career and afterwards the former featherweight champion declared he is moving up to lightweight full time. Fans were immediately interested in Holloway returning to 155 pounds, as were a few fighters, including a former Holloway opponent: Dustin Poirier.

Poirier himself is near the end of his career, and though he already has two wins over Holloway, “The Diamond” is interested in a trilogy bout with the current “BMF” champion. But Daniel Cormier isn’t sure that’s the best idea.

“He’s asking for Dustin Poirier. That would be absolutely fantastic,” Cormier said on Good Guy/Bad Guy. “But is there a better way to introduce Max Holloway into the lightweight division? Do we put him in there with a Dustin for a third time? Or do we see what happens with Michael Chandler after he fights against Charles Oliveira? Or do we start to kind of look down the rankings a little bit and say, ‘Well, it would be fun to watch him fight a Rafael Fiziev. It would be fun to watch him fight a Benoit Saint Denis. It would be fun to watch him fight a Paddy Pimblett.’

“I know that might not be fun for Max, that might not be great for Max, but it would also give him an opportunity to work his way back into contention without being in there with these absolute killers. Because personally, I would like to see Max Holloway not stand across from Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, Alexander Volkanovski, then Ilia Topuria. Something not as crazy of a challenge.”

Poirier is certainly a major challenge for Holloway. The two have met twice before, once at featherweight where Poirier submitted Holloway with a triangle armbar in Holloway’s fifth career fight. The pair rematched seven years later at UFC 236 for the interim lightweight title, with Poirier taking a unanimous decision in one of the best fights of the 2019. That fight remains one of only two lightweight fights in Holloway’s UFC career, the other being his sensational knockout of Justin Gaethje to claim the “BMF” title at UFC 300.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

I cannot believe I’m saying this but: I think I agree with Daniel Cormier?

Max should take a fair bit of time off anyway just to make sure he’s good, but I was at UFC 236 and Poirier plunked Max around. Obviously it was very competitive and both men are older and probably a little worse, but that’s a tough matchup for Max in the best of times. Maybe easing back into lightweight would be prudent.

That being said, I need a Max vs. Charles Oliveira rematch like I need air.

EXIT POLL

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