Daniel Cormier expresses surprise at missing out on interviewing Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway: "Joe Rogan would sit there to talk"

Former UFC two-division champion Daniel Cormier is quite surprised that he wasn't the one who conducted the Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway face-off interview ahead of UFC 308. Instead, it was the relatively green but undeniably capable Brendan Fitzgerald.

In a recent episode of the Good Guy / Bad Guy show on ESPN MMA on YouTube, 'DC' confided with his co-host Chael Sonnen how he feels surprised at the fact that neither he, Jon Anik, nor Joe Rogan got the interview gig. He said:

"Dude, it was Fitzy [Fitzgerald]. First off, who did Fitzy pay to sit in that seat. How did it end up Fitzy of all the people. Jon Anik, I mean, me, Joe Rogan. Joe Rogan would sit there to talk to Max Holloway and Ilia Topuria. I got the honor of doing it when Islam [Makhachev] fought Alexander Volkanovski. Who in the world did Fitz pay, Chael [Sonnen], to end up in that seat? It was the best seat...For the first time, everybody was jealous of Brendan Fitzgerald sitting in that seat yesterday."

Check out Daniel Cormier's statement here (4:39):

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Daniel Cormier praises Brendan Fitzgerald's interview of Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway

Despite missing out on the opportunity to speak to Topuria and Holloway ahead of their battle at UFC 308, Daniel Cormier praised how Brendan Fitzgerald's interview went.

Cormier said (7:27):

"Here's why this worked. You got to see Max Holloway a little bit mad. It felt like Ilia Topuria has now gotten to a point where Max doesn't like him...He [Topuria] respected Max in his career path and the things that he did. I don't know that now [if] he respects him in that way. And I think it's very smart of Topuria not to hold that respect and have that like for Max Holloway.

"Because the last guy that Holloway fought in Justin Gaethje, liked Max. He had no bad feelings towards Max...Max Holloway put him out in one of the most devastating knockouts we have seen in a really long time."

Fitzgerald's sharp observations and speculative questions made the interview even more interesting as it weaved a compelling story - as Cormier ingeniously put it. Whether there's true animosity between Topuria and Holloway or not, one thing's for sure: this bout will be fireworks from start to finish.