UFC commentator Daniel Cormier shares his top three fights of 2023

UFC commentator Daniel Cormier is sharing his top three fights of 2023.

Even though we’re not quite through the 1st half of the year, speaking on his YouTube channel, Cormier has listed his picks for his three top fights of 2023. It should be noted that his three selections also took home fight of the night honors, and can be found below:

Number 3: UFC 285 Shavkat Rakhmonov (17-0 MMA) vs Geoff Neal (15-5 MMA)

Submission victory for Rakhmonov at 4:17 of round 3

“This fight was bananas. Go back and watch it. Anytime you have a fight that tells two stories – one story bing the toughness and durability of Fighter A, the other story being the domination of Fighter B – matchmaking at its finest. That’s what you got at UFC 285. But for as good as that fight was, it’s not my best fight of the first part of the year.”

Number 2: UFC 284 Islam Makhachev (24-1 MMA) vs Alexander Volkanovski (25-2 MMA)

Unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) win for Makhachev

“Ultimately, what we got was the two best fighters, pound-for-pound, in my opinion, fighting for the lightweight championship of the world to the point that Volkanovski was offered an immediate second chance at fighting Makahchev. That’s how competitive the fight was.”

Daniel Cormier continued (h/t MMAJunkie):

“A good fight can be a knock-down, drag-out … and that’s exactly what that was. It can also be two of the most skilled guys in the world competing at a level that not many can match. I believe that’s exactly what we got at UFC 284.”

Number 1: UFC 286 Justin Gaethje (24-4 MMA) vs Rafael Fiziev (12-2 MMA)

Majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28) win for Gaethje.

“Justin Gaethje did what he does, and that’s take your will to fight. Even though Fiziev was there and still trying, you could really see that it was done. I’ve never met a person like Gaethje in the face of adversity and in the face of dire circumstances. He lives for it. He loves the chaos. He loves living in the moment of being in just a train wreck. That fight was amazing, and people were on their feet from the moment it started.”

Do you agree with Daniel Cormier’s picks for the best 3 battles of 2023?

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