With UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski chasing a second title, Daniel Cormier believes the division should move on.
Volkanovski is eyeing Cormier’s teammate and newly crowned lightweight champ Islam Makhachev at UFC 284 on Feb. 11 in Perth, Australia. So with the champion appearing to be tied up, Cormier would like to see UFC Fight Night 213 winner Arnold Allen (17-1 MMA, 10-0 UFC) and the streaking Josh Emmett (18-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) pit against each other on the same card.
“Arnold Allen deserves to fight for some portion of the championship,” Cormier said on his “DC & RC” ESPN show. “I believe his humility in that moment is what actually turned me about. And honestly Josh Emmett does deserve an interim title fight also. Those guys should not have to wait for the champion as he tries to chase down greatness.
“Give the champion an opportunity to do something truly special but allow for the weight class to continue to move and see if something shows itself. I don’t like when a guy has to win double digit fights in the UFC in order to earn a championship opportunity. It seems like way too long, and I would like to see Allen fighting for some portion of the championship against Josh Emmett, preferably in Australia, right underneath Volkanovski fighting against Islam Makhachev.”
Allen extended his winning streak to 12 when he defeated Calvin Kattar by second-round injury TKO this past Saturday. Allen won Round 1, but an unfortunate Kattar knee injury led to a stoppage just eight seconds into Round 2.
Emmett is also coming off a win over Kattar, edging him out by split decision at UFC on ESPN 37 in June to make it five straight wins.
