The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Daniel Cormier WARNS Charles Oliveira: "DON'T FIGHT Rafael Fiziev" after Ilia Topuria knockout

Episode Date: August 9, 2025

Daniel Cormier IS BACK to talk about the biggest headlines in the UFC and MMA, and there's no bigger name in the headlines today than superstar Charles Oliveira after accepting a fight with Rafael Fiziev. DC addresses the controversy surrounding the decision from Oliveira and his camp just months after taking a BRUTAL KNOCKOUT from Ilia Topuria. Cormier explains why he believes it's NOT a good decision to take the fight so shortly removed from that finish, and why when he took a NASTY KO from Jon Jones, he NEEDED the time to recover and get back into the octagon 100% healthy. #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Four additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see dkng.com slash audio. What's up, guys? It's Friday, August 8th. I'm in Vegas for UFC fight night tomorrow, but today I wanted to get a new episode out to you guys. Brought to you by Total Wireless, the official wireless provider of UFC. They're in your corner with unlimited 5G data that will not slow you to.

down. I wanted to bring this episode because I saw yesterday, or a couple days ago, a fight announcement for Charles O'Levara versus Raphael Fazid. And immediately, I got excited, right? Because anytime New Bronx fights, I get excited, the world gets excited. It's fun. But then you start to digest the idea that Charles O'Levara last month got knocked out bad by Ili. it to pour you. And everybody likes Charles O'Levara. We all do. He's a nice guy.

He's a tremendous fighter. He has done so many great fun things. But then you wonder why so soon. That was my thought once I calm down from the excitement of, oh, my goodness, Charles Oliva is fighting again against Raphaelphaziv. It's going to be a born burner because both of these guys are great strikers. And also it's Charles O'Levara. dropping a ladder, per se,

for a guidance behind him to have an opportunity. I don't know if we can even really consider for Zeeve like a guy behind him anymore because he's fought Gaetey twice. He's been in there with some high-level guys and experienced guys, so he may be more of just one of the guys now. But I thought to myself,

why so soon for Dubranks? I get that it's in real. But October 11th is when Charles will fight against Fiziz. Charles got knocked out an international fight week by Ilya bad. It will be like three months

from that knockout to when he steps back into the octagon to fight again. For me that's scary because I remember one of our great champions Alexander Volcanowski taking a fight against Islam, getting knocked out, rushing back

October, November, December, January to fight Ilya. Ilya knocks him up. It's very different the approach that fighters take to when they want to return after suffering a knockout like this. I understand for Dubrofts, it's about getting the fight in Brazil. It's a guy about going back to Rio.

It's been a while. It will be a year and a half since the UFC's gone to Brazil. They need the biggest star from Brazil to main event the card. I get all of that. But the wonder for me is when the people around Charles get the call that he wants that they want him to fight then, why not go to Charles and go, hey, it might be a little too soon. We have seen this happen before. And in most cases, it doesn't end well for the guy, i.e. Volcanovsky and so many others. You have the guy that wants to rush back because they feel that they have to prove I'm still me and I want to get back in the Arctic.

I got to get back to doing what I do. But there are other cases where guys take the correct time. When you get knocked out like that, you should take a little bit of time before you go back into the octagon. I remember 2017, I fought John Jones. I got knocked out in Anahunt. That was in July. Or maybe it was after Stepe. I got a fight off her right after.

And I just said, nah, I need to let my brain heal. I've got to let my mind settle after going out. like that. I knew that for me to go back and fight that soon, it would not have gone well. So I waited, so I waited to make sure that I was healthy and my brain was back okay before I step back into the act on. Justin Gates did the same thing. Justin Gates got knocked out by Max Holloway. We didn't see JG until March. He took almost a full year off. And he is about as a tougher man as there is in the world. Justin Gates you will fight time and time again,

but he recognized, I need time. Louisa sent me this text. Charles said that the reason he got knocked out was because he was showing off against Ilya trying to move forward. He wanted to prove he could go forward. I don't know if that's why. I think he probably,

he went forward because that's how he fights. It's just the truth. You don't go in there with a, the guy that's dangerous as I'll beaure and decide, I'm going to do something different. He went forward because against all the biggest punchers in the division, he went forward. He walked down Justin Gagee.

He walked down Dustin Poirier. He walked down Michael Chandler. He walked down everybody. That's why he's been so fun to watch over the course of this run that he's been on recently. That's why. It wasn't because, you know, fighters, we make up reasons as, to why things happened, reasons that at times are made up to just settle us and reassure us, oh, you're fine, because people are sensitive, no one more than fighters, because we have a

idea of ourselves as fighters the same as you, the general public have of the fighter. You imagine he's a very tough guy, big, strong, can pretty much get through anything. It's exactly how to fight abuse himself. So when that dynamic shifts, when you are proven that there's just someone that's better, even if it's just Fortnite, you start to find reasons or try to explain away why it happened. It's not why. You just got God. But at the end of the day, it doesn't mean you should rush back to try to do it again because there's reason. And it's just not just me talking, right?

Hanato McConnell said, why on earth did Charles accept this fight? The fight saves UFC Rio, but it doesn't really help Charles. It could destroy his career. It's not an important mission, but a very difficult one. This is Atomai Kano. And honestly, Cheo agree with me that we think it's just fast to rush back and fight. But who are we to tell Charles Olavera what to do, right? Charles is one of the most popular guys on the roster.

Charles is one of the best fighters on the roster. Charles is one of the toughest guys in the world. I respect Charles Olavera tremendously. I think he's amazing. And I think that's probably why I have these questions. Because even from afar, whereas you might not have a great relationship with someone, they might not be one of your best friends. You almost feel like you know Charles.

And because you feel like you know Charles, you feel like you care about Charles. There are certain athletes that we build a connection to as fans that you care about them and their well-being. and Charles Olavera fighting in three months after that knockout to me just does not seem like the best decision. And I always wonder about the team that's around them when people make decisions like that. Because the fighter's always going to fight.

That's what he does. He's a fighter. You tell Charles, meet some guy on the corner to fight him. He'll fight him. Charles, you got to fight October 11th. He'll fight him. But where's the guy, you know, that goes, Diego Lima goes, hey, Charles, not quite yet.

Or the manager. Not quite yet. Especially when Charles has made a boatload of money now. He's done really well in his career. He's established. He's going into the Hall of Fame. He's one of the greats. And I just don't want to see something crazy happen again that we saw happen last time.

Because remember, guys, when Charles was the champ, he got knocked down a lot. He got hit and hurt. a lot, but he was always able to get up and continue to fight against the poor. He was like knocked out before he even hit the ground. That's how bad of a knockout it was. So to see him back in three, three months, it's, it's concerning. But I'm going to watch it. I'm going to watch Charles Olivera fight because that's what I do. I'm excited because Charles Oliver was fighting. I'm the same as you. But I think we're all going to go in there watching with a little bit of a concern like, oh man, let's see how we get through this. I've spoken to people, right? From the

physique of side where they say, I can't believe he's taking this fight. When we got offered the fight as a team, we said, sure, we'll do it, but we can't imagine Charles would. But again, Charles has. And now we have a fight. We have a fight with one of the greatest fighters. We've seen in a real long time. And then Louise just texted me, man, Charles is my guy. I think most people feel like that

about Dubrox. But again, it just gives me these memories of Volk. Now, if Charles proves this wrong, good for Charles. But I think it's very, very fast for him to be stepping back to the outcome. Especially with a guy like Raphael Fazim,

who's so dangerous, so explosive, and has a full training camp. Fighters, I would encourage you. if you get knocked out take some time going forward i hope this isn't like a i don't have to look back at this three months from now and go oh it happened to charles but it's just very scary your body needs to recharge when that button gets pressed you need some time off john knocked me out in july 2017 i didn't go back into the doctrine on until 2018 and end of january i knew that i needed months and months and months of nothing.

I didn't get punched in the face for months after I got knocked out because I knew that I needed to try to save this because there's like another part of life after fighting. So we'll see. Guys, enjoy your weekend. I appreciate your love and support as always. Until next time, like, subscribe,

and tell you friends about my YouTube channel. I'll catch you guys next week. UFC 319 from Chicago goes down. Big time check-ins. DDP. Comes out, Chimaya, Aaron Pico, and so much more. And I got another appearance, a total wireless in Chicago. Make sure you guys come see me.

Until next time. Peace. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what?

We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. You know, tired and sick, tired and sick.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel. Help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless.

And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs' tennis podcast for no-nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris. Jen, she won. She's an outsider to win the French friend. And she likes Clay.

Listen, Leonard Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the Iheart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. And every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source the athletes themselves.

Their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlice on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicalife-Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This is an I-Heart podcast.

Guaranteed human.