Daniel Cormier and Ben Askren discussed Pereira vs. Rountree on the former’s official YouTube channel recently. While Askren seemed perplexed by how “The War Horse” is fighting for the title, Cormier understood the decision because of Alex Pereira’s growing stardom.
“Ankalaev seems so obvious a choice but not really the choice because I wouldn’t put him in there with Alex right now. Like honestly, Alex Pereira is actually selling pay-per-views and he’s making money for you as a company. I don’t know if Ankalaev can do that right now.”
By frequently fighting in major events like UFC 300, UFC 303, and now, UFC 307, “Poatan” has quickly amassed millions of fans. However, as per DC, he’s yet to be as big a star as Conor McGregor.
The former UFC champ further explained that McGregor’s unprecedented stardom helped his opponents make a name for themselves by beating him. Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier are fine examples of the same.
“If you beat Conor McGregor, you become a pay-per-view attraction. If you beat certain guys, you kind of take their shine and you become that attraction. I don’t know if you beat Alex Pereira, you become that attraction. I don’t know, I think he is the attraction. I don’t know, just by beating him, if he’s the big enough star yet to elevate the next guy to the point that they’re selling a whole bunch of paper.
Cormier believes that Alex Pereira is yet to reach McGregor’s levels of popularity where he generates new stars, even while losing. As a result, the UFC would want to give “Poatan” favorable matchups and make him the center of attention for as long as possible. At the moment, the promotion won’t risk ending the reign of its biggest star in recent times.