Daniel Cormier is so confident that Alex Pereira did not get hacked, that he used his ESPN show with Chael Sonnen to expose the former light heavyweight champion.
According to “DC,” who retired from competition and joined Joe Rogan at the UFC commentary desk, negotiations for a Magomed Ankalaev rematch turned sour when UFC CBO, Hunter Campbell, flew overseas to pitch Islam Makhachev for UFC 317.
“Pereira is a liar, Pereira did not get hacked,” Cormier insisted. “Pereira might have tweeted something and then somebody called him was like, ‘Yo, calm down, let’s chill.’ I don’t believe the hacked thing, bro. It’s too convenient. It was too specific. I’m saying it publicly. My thought is … while Hunter was [in Dagestan] to meet Islam, guess who else Rizvan Magomedov manages? Ankalaev! He also manages Ankalaev! So while [Hunter] is in Dagestan speaking with Islam about the [Ilia Topuria] fight — remember, we still ain’t got a main event for International Fight Week — that’s a short period away, so [Hunter] goes, ‘What about you, Ankalaev, are you available?’ Ankalaev is like, ‘Okay, I could fight.’”
“And then [Hunter] goes to Pereira and goes, ‘Alex, are you available?’ And Alex is like, ‘Well, it’s a short time to get ready.’ Right? ‘Okay, Alex, we’re gonna give somebody else this title fight.’ Alex gets mad, goes to the internet, puts that up there, then gets a call going, ‘Hey, man…’ That’s my thought, that’s what happened. So yes, while Hunter was in Dagestan, I think it was a two-for-one call. I think he spoke to Magomed and I he spoke to Islam. I don’t know this as fact, but I know this game enough to put that together and feel pretty confidently to say it on ESPN.”
Pereira is currently wrapping up his latest travel commitment.
“Poatan” was defeated by Ankalaev at UFC 313 just a few weeks back and was expected to rematch “Big Ank” at some point later this year. Then came a “disheartening” tweet from Pereira suggesting he was being mistreated by the promotion — followed by a second post claiming he was hacked.
Funny thing about the Octagon … there’s eight sides to every story.
