Daniel Cormier doesn’t think there aren’t too many big pay-per-view stars in the UFC right now – maybe only two.
When looking at the current UFC champions, Cormier believes only heavyweight champion Jon Jones and light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira have the ability to do big numbers.
“Is there a void of that big star? Because right now it feels like only Jon Jones and Pereira,” Cormier said on “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Chael Sonnen. “Pereira and Jon Jones might be the only two champions right now that are completely moving the needle.”
Outside of the sport’s biggest star in Conor McGregor, Cormier argues that a long title reign is needed to be a draw. He points to the likes of Jones and Anderson Silva, who reigned supreme over their respective divisions for years. He also thinks Israel Adesanya’s pay-per-view buys were solid only when he was a defending champion.
“Jon Jones right now is a proven draw,” Cormier said. “He will sell pay-per-views. Alex Pereira, under right circumstances, will sell pay-per-views. But then when I list these other names to you, Chael: Zhang Weili, the ’25-pound champion; the Brazilian (Alexandre) Pantoja; Merab Dvalishvili; Ilia Topuria; Islam Makhachev; Belal Muhammad; let’s keep going. … It’s hard to be a long-reigning champion. The problem is the game has gotten so hard now.
“Anderson had what, 11 title defenses? Jones had like 13. Who’s doing that anymore? We talked bout Sean O’Malley as if he had a great title reign. He defended the belt one time. Imagine if he did that seven times. A long title reign is very difficult. A long title reign is what’s needed to become a real draw. You cannot just be a flash-in-the-pan champion. Unfortunately Izzy (Adesanya) was a draw because he held that belt for a long time, but since he lost the belt, the number isn’t as great.”
Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) defends his heavyweight title vs. former champ Stipe Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) in the UFC 309 main event Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Meanwhile, Pereira (11-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) defends his light heavyweight title against Khalil Rountree (13-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) in the UFC 307 main event Oct. 5 in Salt Lake City.
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This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Daniel Cormier: Jon Jones, Alex Pereira might be only two UFC champs ‘completely moving the needle’
