Former UFC double champion Daniel Cormier has laughed off Alex Pereira's callout of Jared Cannonier telling the fighter to be realistic.
Pereira took the opportunity in his post-fight press conference at UFC Vegas 50 to call out 'The Killa Gorilla' following his unanimous decision win over Bruno Silva.
The UFC middleweight is now 2-0 in the UFC having already defeated Andreas Michailidis in his spectacular UFC debut where he pulled off a flying knee knockout.
Since joining the UFC, it hasn't taken long for Pereira to bring up his former foe Israel Adesanya with the Brazilian mentioning him often in the build-up to UFC Vegas 50.
Their rivalry goes far back to Pereira's early days competing in Glory where he is widely known as the only man to defeat Adesanya having done so twice. Once via unanimous decision, with the second time coming in even more convincing fashion scoring a KO/TKO victory.
It now appears Pereira is looking for the quickest route possible to a title shot against the UFC middleweight champion. His latest callout of Cannonier seems ambitious in implying the former Glory kickboxing double-champion wants to fight Adesanya as soon as possible.
Yet Cannonier looks set for the next title shot himself meaning the Brazilian's callout seems unrealistic at this stage. Especially considering Pereira has only had two fights in the organization and is yet to face a ranked opponent.
Cormier has now taken the opportunity to give his thoughts on Pereira's callout on his ESPN show DC & RC. (h/t BJPenn.com)
“He goes and calls out a guy in Jared Cannonier who’s obviously fighting for the championship," said Cormier. "Like what are we doing here? I mean, fight someone in the top 15 [first], fight someone in the top 10. Like, I get shooting for the stars, but the stars is anyone with a number next to their name at this point.
“Then again, it’s the wins over Izzy in kickboxing that gives him this sense of invincibility. He’s watching this guy that he knocked out run roughshod over the division, become a megastar and make tons of money. Ultimately, he’s trying to find the shortest path to get to where he feels he belongs. So, hats off to him. But, come on man! Let’s be realistic in the way that we approach our journey through the UFC’s rankings.”
It's clear Cormier wants to see Pereira face a ranked opponent before he is even mentioned amongst the top contenders at middleweight. We may well see Pereira modify his preferred opponent should Cannonier be confirmed to face Adesanya next any time soon.
What do you make of Alex Pereira's callout of Jared Cannonier?