Daniel Cormier on Justin Gaethje vacating to fight Conor McGregor: "You can't do that"

Cormier says giving up the lightweight title for a money fight would harm Gaethje's legacy, and that Arman Tsarukyan is now "a massive star".

Daniel Cormier has dismissed the idea of Justin Gaethje giving up his title for a Conor McGregor fight, saying it would damage the lightweight champion's legacy.

"I read somewhere where he said he would vacate to fight Conor," Cormier said on his YouTube channel. "You can't do that. You can't do that. It would really... it would harm his legacy to give away the belt and put value in the money fight over being a world champion. And I can't imagine Gaethje would do that. Probably was just talking."

Cormier said Gaethje had said he would "absolutely" fight McGregor, "but to me that fight is just not possible because he's the world champion". He added that Gaethje beating Ilia Topuria "almost guarantees he doesn't get the Conor McGregor fight because of the way Conor McGregor fought against Max Holloway".

"There is no easy option for Justin Gaethje," said Cormier of the champion, who won the belt from Topuria at UFC Freedom 250. Relaying Jon Anik's view that Gaethje has "the Arman door" if he wants it, Cormier said: "Arman Tsarukyan at this point is a massive star." A Topuria rematch would be dangerous, he said, because "there were moments where Ilia hurt him".

Gaethje, 37, has said he will not fight again this year and is weighing retirement before deciding on a defence against Tsarukyan, who stopped Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 331. "Retirement is a very, very strong one for him," Cormier said, "but even in that, it's going to be a very difficult one for Justin Gaethje."

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