Cormier puts Poatan and Jones on the same shelf when analyzing the current UFC champion landscape

Alex Poatán e Jon Jones pose for photos at UFC 306 in the Sphere. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram/UFContnt

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Former UFC heavyweight (up to 120,2 kg) and light heavyweight (up to 93 kg) champion, Daniel Cormier believes that the organization is going through a crisis in terms of big stars. The two exceptions, in the commentator's opinion, are Jon Jones e Alex Poatán.

“Is there a big star missing? At the moment it seems we only have Jon Jones and Alex Pereira. They seem to be the only champions capable of moving the pieces on the board. Jon Jones is a proven name. He sells pay-per-views. Alex Pereira, under the right circumstances, sells pay-per-views. But when I list the other names: Weili Zhang, Alexandre pantoja, Merab Dvalishvili, Ilia Topuria, Islam Mukhachev, Belal Muhammad | and so on,” Cormier said on a recent edition of the 'Good Guy/Bad Guy' podcast.

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In Cormier's opinion, only a long and dominant reign can elevate a new name to the level of legends and idols like Anderson Silva e Jon Jones.

“It’s hard to be a champion for a long time. Anderson had what? 11 defenses? Jones had 13? Who else does that? We used to talk about Sean O’Malley as if he had a great reign and he only defended the title once. Imagine if he had defended it seven times. A long reign is very difficult, but it’s what it takes to become a truly great name. You can’t be a flash champion. Unfortunately, Adesanya was that because he held the belt for so long, but since he lost it, the number is not that great,” he concluded.