Daniel Cormier would boot dominant champion out of UFC’s pound-for-pound top 3 to fit Khamzat Chimaev in

Daniel Cormier would put Khamzat Chimaev in the P4P top 3 over Merab Dvalishvili

Chimaev’s arrival high up the P4P ladder immediately caused a stir, with many questioning his high placement. In particular, plenty were furious to see ‘Borz’ placed above flyweight king Alexandre Pantoja.

But Daniel Cormier went a step further when giving his take on the matter during an episode of his Pound 4 Pound show on ESPN MMA’s YouTube channel, suggesting that Chimaev should also be above bantamweight champ Merab Dvalishvili.

“I think, Chael, he should be number three,” Cormier said. “What it means, pound-for-pound, is your fight style transcends weight classes.

“Merab has not fought in any other weight class. Khamzat Chimaev had success at welterweight at a very high level, was on the verge of a title fight, has to go up, becomes a champion there. He beat Kamaru Usman, who was the champion at 170 at the time that he was working his way up the rankings.

“Because of those things, I think he falls right in line with Islam and Ilia Topuria, right in front of Merab Dvalishvili,” Cormier added.

“Merab has only fought at bantamweight. Granted he’s had more success than anyone we’ve seen in a long time, it’s still only one weight class.”

Merab Dvalishvili would put himself below a different UFC champion

While Cormier has called for Chimaev to be boosted above Dvalishvili, ‘The Machine’ himself has advocated for another reigning UFC champion to surpass him.

Dvalishvili was praised for his humble rankings while speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show in July. ‘The Machine’ not only put Topuria and Makhachev above him, but he also ranked Pantoja as No. 3 in the pound-for-pound pecking order.

“Right now, I will say Ilia. Number one,” Dvalishvili said. “Number two, Islam.

“I will say number three, Pantoja…Number four is good (for me).

“I have to be (humble) because I don’t wanna overlook my opponents,” Dvalishvili added.