Alex Pereira seeks to make history at the UFC White House card by becoming the first three-division titleholder after already winning championships at both light heavyweight and middleweight.
If he beats Ciryl Gane on Sunday, Pereira also captures an interim heavyweight title, and sets himself apart from every other fighter with none having ever held UFC gold across three weight classes. The accolade is so special that UFC CEO Dana White declared that Pereira would immediately become the greatest of all time, surpassing Jon Jones as the fighter he’s always recognized for that moniker.
But former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier isn’t ready to crown Pereira as the GOAT even with a third title added to his résumé. In fact, Cormier had to have that uncomfortable conversation with Pereira on Wednesday.
“Alex just asked me that directly, and he’s big now so that’s a hard question to answer in front of him when he’s that big,” Cormier said during UFC White House media day. “I actually told him no. I told him that I don’t think he’d be the greatest just yet.”
Cormier acknowledges that Pereira becoming the first three-division titleholder is something truly special, and it’s an accomplishment that sets him apart from every other fighter in UFC history.
That said, Cormier believes Pereira still has more work to do if he really wants to cement himself as the best ever, especially when compared to some of the other all-time greats in the sport.
“He would need to defend the championship at heavyweight,” Cormier said. “He’s fought for that [light heavyweight] title a lot of times. I think that he just needs more work.
“But I do believe being a three-division champion is one of the greatest accomplishments ever. But to put him over Georges St-Pierre or Khabib Nurmagomedov, I don’t think quite yet. Jon Jones, you guys know how I feel about that.”
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