Daniel Cormier and Ben Askren recently revealed how Dana White handles it when a fighter refuses to take a matchup that theyâre offered.
The two decorated wrestlers sat down for a chat on Cormierâs YouTube channel to discuss the current state of the welterweight title picture following last weekendâs UFC 286. The main event of that card saw Leon Edwards successfully defend his title in a third fight with Kamaru Usman, and immediately following the bout White indicated that Colby Covington was next in line to challenge for the belt.
The UFC Presidentâs announcement about Covington has drawn the ire of some of the other promotionâs top welterweights. Askren suggested that Edwards might have some say in who his next challenger is, but âFunkyâ did warn that exercising that power might only benefit him in the short term.
âSo you know MMA fighters, UFC fighters, they can push back against Dana,â Askren said. âBut where it bites them in the a**, Dana will hold it against them. So they can win in the short term, like Leon can just keep saying âNah, Iâm not fighting him. Nope, Iâm not fighting him. Give me someone else, give me someone else.â It might happen, and then when Dana gets to get him back heâs gonna get him back.â
Cormier Provides Flip Side To Askrenâs Comments About White
White has never been shy about calling out fighters on the UFC roster, and recently he even took a shot at Merab Dvalishvili and Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling for their refusal to fight each other after Dvalishviliâs dominant win over Petr Yan.
Not every fighter is in a position where they can refuse an offered matchup, and Cormier cited himself as an example of how things can work out when you take whatever fight is given to you.
âYouâve had many examples of it, but the reality â and also on the other hand, the guys that kind of go âYou know what? Sure, Iâll fight.â Then they end up with commentary jobs, like me and Michael Bisping and all those other dudes, right? So itâs like sort of a whole hand come, hand go situation.â
Belal Muhammad has been among the most vocal critics of Whiteâs plan for Covington to face Edwards, while the upcoming UFC 287 matchup between former title challengers Gilbert Burns and Jorge Masvidal could further complicate things at the top of the promotionâs welterweight division.
Dana canât treat his champions like trash anymore, first Ngannou now Rocky. The Alaskan Bull Worm needs to learn these are private contractors not employees
Having your champion fight the top contender in his weight class isnât âtreating his champions like trashâ.
Not allowing your fighter to pick a much easier opponent (Jorge) isnât âtreating his champions like trashâ.
Leon is ducking Colby because he knows Colby will crush him. Plain and simple.
Colby isnât even the top contender, his last win was against that much easier opponent (Jorge)
He isnât? Then whatâs he ranked genius?
[
LEON EDWARDS](https://www.ufc.com/athlete/leon-edwards)
CHAMPION
1 Kamaru Usman
2 Colby Covington
3 Khamzat Chimaev
4 Belal Muhammad
5 Gilbert Burns
6 Shavkat Rakhmonov
7 Stephen Thompson
8 Geoff Neal
9 Sean Brady
10 Vicente Luque
11 Jorge Masvidal
12 Neil Magny
13 Michael Chiesa
14 Jack Della Maddalena
15 Michel Pereira
If we are talking fun fightsâŚ.I want Stephen Thompson to fight Leon.
Like rankings mean anything
I miss the days when real men fought, like Don Frye, Vitor, Tank, etc.
Those dudes literally considered themselves the most badass guys on Earth.
You didnât hear any bitching or turning down fights, those guys thought, legitimately, that any man put in a cage with them, they could beat.
DC basically explaining why heâs a UFC shill. Canât really blame him.
Donât cross the boss.
Colby covington will beat Leon Edwards into a living death and everybody who has been watching the ufc for a long time knows it. He will immediately take him down and smash on him. Leon will get back up and Colby will immediately take him down again⌠this happens over and over until Colby wins⌠100 out of 100 times
Every ex fighter currently employed by ESPN/UFC is the type of fighter to do whatever the UFC wants and fight on short notice. Except maybe Cruz and Iâm guessing Cruz was never asked to fill in on short notice since he spent 4 years of his prime dealing with injuries. Dana probably just felt bad for the guy.
Edwards wouldnât stand with Thompson. He would wrestle that fight.
MVP could come over from bellator and beat Leon, imo.
First Ngannou? No.
UFC champs have been leaving the UFC as champ to go make better money elsewhere since the PRIDE days.
Nothing new about that.
Hell, even before ZUFFA owned the UFC, Randy left SEG to go fight in RINGS.
As soon as ZUFFA owned the UFC, Pulver walked away champ to go make more money elsewhere.
Plenty of champs have left for more money in the past.