Daniel Cormier is pumping the brakes on crowning Alex Pereira the greatest of all time ahead of UFC Freedom 250, even if the Brazilian makes history in Washington.
Pereira is set to face Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight belt in the co-main event of UFC Freedom 250 at the White House on Wednesday, where he will attempt to claim a UFC title in a third division.
UFC CEO Dana White has said Pereira would surpass Jon Jones as the greatest of all time with a win over Gane, and Michael Bisping has agreed it would be hard to deny Pereira if he makes history. But Cormier revealed he gave Pereira a very different answer when asked directly.
"Alex just asked me that directly, and he's big now, so it's like, that's a hard question to answer in front of him when he's that big," Cormier said. "And I actually told him no. I told him that I don't think he would be the greatest just yet. He would need to defend the championship at heavyweight."
Cormier pointed to Pereira’s existing run and how it stacks up against established legends.
"He's defended three times at light heavyweight, fought for that title a lot of times, and I think 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, so ..."
