Daniel Cormier says Robert Whittaker as backup makes sense

Daniel Cormier thinks Robert Whittaker weighing in as the backup for the next UFC middleweight title fight is the right move.

Whittaker (26-7 MMA, 17-5 UFC) scored a first-round knockout of Ikram Aliskerov in Saturday’s UFC on ABC 6 main event at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

After the finish, Whittaker expressed interest in serving as the backup for the UFC 305 headliner between champion Dricus Du Plessis (21-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) and Israel Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) on Aug. 17 in Perth, Australia.

With Whittaker’s only losses in the past 18 fights coming to Du Plessis and twice to Adesanya, Cormier sees everything to gain for Whittaker as a reserve.

“He’s lost to Izzy twice, so that means it would be hard to get a third title fight,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “He has lost to Dricus. This might honestly be the best position for him, especially when it comes to Dricus. He has only lost to Dricus once. Dricus is the champion.

“If Izzy gets hurt, Robert Whittaker is there as a backup then he would get that second fight against Dricus Du Plessis much sooner than he would’ve expected to get that next fight against Dricus Du Plessis. I think it’s a win-win for Rob and after tonight’s performance, I believe that it should happen.”

UFC CEO Dana White also likes the idea of Whittaker as a backup as he heaped praise on the former champion for his willingness to take on a dangerous Aliskerov (15-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) on short notice.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ABC 6.