Morning Report: Daniel Cormier says ‘mental fatigue’ behind Ilia Topuria wanting to move to lightweight

Daniel Cormier thinks Ilia Topuria might be burned out.

In October, Topuria knocked out Max Holloway at UFC 308, making the first successful defense of his featherweight title. Afterward, it appears that Topuria would then move on to a rematch with former champion Alexander Volkanovski next, however, earlier this week, Topuria revealed that he’s considering vacating his belt to move up to 155 pounds. Should it come to pass, it would be a shocking turn of events but one that former two-division champion Daniel Cormier understands.

“You know what it makes me think when I hear him going, ‘I don’t want to fight Diego [Lopes], I don’t want to fight [Movsar] Evloev, I don’t want to fight Volkanovski again? It makes me think, honestly, that the fights to win the belt and the fight to retain the belt was too big,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “… It doesn’t feel as exciting.

“I think, for Topuria, he’s like, ‘I just beat the two greatest featherweights of the generation, now I’ve got to fight Diego Lopes? Now I’ve got to fight Evloev? I think, for him, it might feel like the challenges aren’t as great as the ones he had to go through in order to become the champion.”

Cormier went on to liken Topuria’s situation to Jon Jones’ light heavyweight title reign, where Jones’s performances dropped off as he faced opposition that was widely viewed as easy matchups compared to his initial title opponents. Of course, Topuria is not Jones in that he only has a two-fight title run, but considering how spectacular those wins have been — over all-time great fighters like Volkanovski and Max Holloway — Cormier believes it’s understandable.

“When you beat the best guys, especially the two guys that ruled the division for so long, there can be a little bit of fatigue in there,” Cormier said. “It’s not like muscle fatigue; it’s mental fatigue. Because you have to be so up to do what he did to Max Holloway and to do what he did to Volkanovski.

“I don’t care what people tell you, the only ones that believe that he would do what he did was Ilia Topuria and his team. You can’t think that that was going to happen just being on the outside. He went and he knocked out Max Holloway. That doesn’t happen. You don’t knock out Max Holloway. He knocked out Volkanovski. You don’t do those things back to back.

“So now to think, ‘I went from fighting two established veteran stars, stars, people that sell pay-per-view, the BMF champion, to now I’ve got to fight a guy that’s on the upswing, a guy that’s on the rise, a guy that truly is who I was only a couple fights ago.”

Feud. Colby Covington slams Jon Jones for ‘ducking’ Tom Aspinall, avoiding fights where ‘he knows he’s going to get his ass beat.’

Main Event. Joaquin Buckley claims Colby Covington was ‘scared’ to train with him.

Charged. Nate Diaz charged with misdemeanor battery over alleged incident at Las Vegas nightclub.

Options. UFC owners reveal ‘we’re exploring’ options in boxing, potentially inviting ‘investment partner’ from the Middle East.

Team MMA. Global Fight League announces a new team-based organization with a huge list of signings, including 8 former UFC champions.

UFC Tampa Media Day videos.

And a Colby training vlog.

Farewell, Jack Shore.

Muhammad Mokaev responds to Manel Kape.

Merab.

Corey Anderson hearing the rumors already.

PUBG MMA?

Kevin Holland, the modern-day Bully Beatdown.

Callout.

Incredible.

Muhammad Mokaev (12-0, 1 NC) vs. Joevincent So (10-5); Brave CF 91, Dec. 13.

Vadim Nemkov (18-2, 1 NC) vs. Corey Anderson (18-6, 1 NC); Bellator Dubai, Jan. 25.

Amanda Lemos (14-4-1) vs. Iasmin Lucindo (17-5); UFC 313, March 8.

Molly McCann (14-7) vs. Istela Nunes (6-5); UFC London, March 22.

Christian Leroy Duncan (10-2) vs. Andrey Pulyaev (9-2); UFC London, March 22.

Shauna Bannon (6-1) vs. Puja Tomar (9-4); UFC London, March 22.

Alonzo Menifield (15-5-1) vs. Oumar Sy (11-0); UFC London, March 22.

I’m on the record that this entire Ilia thing is BS and he’s not going to do it, because why would he? Leaving the belt means leaving the PPV points. The man is posturing. He’s going to stick at 145 for at least two more fights, and he should. Getting PPV points to beat a dude you already beat is good business. Going up and getting wailed on by either Islam Makhachev or Arman Tsarukyan is not. — Meshew

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