Daniel Cormier says the UFC's upcoming Sphere show marks a crucial moment for Brian Ortega's continued stay toward the top of the promotion.
Plenty of storylines are set to play out at this weekend's Noche UFC pay-per-view, with the most intriguing of which below the two championship headliners being a highly anticipated featherweight clash on the main card.
A few months on from the same-day cancellation at UFC 303, Ortega and the surging Diego Lopes will give their matchup a second go at reaching the steel surroundings of the Octagon.
For "T-City," he'll be fighting 10 places down the rankings against one of the most in-form contenders in the division. With the hype surrounding Lopes in mind, Cormier thinks a victory could net Ortega another shot at title glory.
But a defeat? For "DC," that could be all she wrote for Ortega's appearances at the top of UFC cards...
Cormier: Lopes Fight 'Telling' On Where Ortega's Career Is At
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During the latest episode of his Good Guy / Bad Guy show alongside Chael Sonnen on ESPN MMA's YouTube channel, Cormier looked ahead to Saturday's event and assessed what's at stake for one of the highest-ranked names on the lineup.
While Ortega cemented his spot high up the pecking order by submitting Yair Rodríguez in his comeback fight this past February, "DC" believes a setback against the #13-ranked Lopes could be fatal for his continued stay at the top.
I think this fight is going to be very telling as to where Brian Ortega is in his career," Cormier said. "If you can't beat these young up-and-comers, it becomes difficult to stay where you've lived your entire career. Ortega has lived at the top of the card for as long as we can remember.
f he loses to a guy like Lopes — a guy who's on a run, a guy who's making his way to the top of the division — it becomes a bit of a changing of the guard," Cormier continued. "But I think that happened in Mexico City. Brian Ortega was supposed to go lose to Yair Rodríguez. He got the job done and he looked very impressive in doing so. So this is a massive opportunity. ... Ortega wins this fight, he's gonna be right on the shortlist of guys that can compete for the belt.
Ortega will look to avoid the first of those fates mentioned by Cormier by stalling Lopes' charge up the featherweight ladder come fight night at the Sphere on Sept. 14.
Should the two-time title challenger accomplish that feat, he'll no doubt place a close eye on the upcoming 145-pound championship clash between kingpin Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway in Abu Dhabi.
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