Daniel Cormier believes UFC 318 in-cage interviews will include his "hardest" one ever: "Dustin Poirier's been so important to mixed martial arts"

Daniel Cormier recently opened up about Dustin Poirier's last fight in the UFC and shared his honest take on having to interview his fellow Louisiana native inside the cage after the bout.

Poirier will make his last walk down to the octagon against Max Holloway in a BMF title fight at UFC 318 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans this weekend. 'The Diamond' notably beat Holloway via first-round submission in their first encounter at UFC 143 in February 2012 and then outpointed 'Blessed' in their rematch at UFC 236 in April 2019.

Given that Joe Rogan will be missing from the broadcast team, Cormier will have to handle the in-cage interviews after the fights. In a recent interview with Mike Bohn, Cormier claimed it would be his "hardest" interview and said:

"I'm ready for it. It's one that I hate that we're having to do because Dustin's been so important to mixed martial arts. Everybody has their time, right? I'm lucky enough to be there when it happens and be right next to the octagon or inside the octagon."

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He continued:

"I had to do some pretty emotional ones before my career, but I think this one will probably be the hardest. I met Dustin way back after I beat Jeff Monson in 2011 in Dallas, I ran into him at a gym in Lafayette and to see what he's become, it's outstanding."

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Daniel Cormier explains why there's more pressure on Max Holloway than Dustin Poirier at UFC 318

Daniel Cormier recently explained why there's more pressure on Max Holloway than Dustin Poirier at UFC 318 this weekend. The UFC icon pointed out that 'Blessed' still has aspirations to become champion and is seeking a rematch with Ilia Topuria next.

In an episode of the Good Guy/ Bad Guy podcast, Cormier stated that Holloway, not Poirier, is the one who has to deal with the results of the UFC 318 headliner and said:

"It has to be much more than just winning a fight. Not only because [Holloway] has championship aspirations - he doesn't want to go 0-6 in two trilogies - but also because he's fighting a guy that's retiring. There's something to be the guy that's sticking around. That means that the pressure is a little bit more on you, because you still got to deal with everything that comes with MMA after Dustin Poirier hits the door."

Catch Daniel Cormier's comments below (9:35):

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Edited by Nishant Zende.