‘Strong now!’ – Daniel Cormier gets giggles as he jokingly tests Alex Pereira’s grappling skills ahead of UFC 307 title bout

Daniel Cormier jokingly put Alex Pereira through his paces with a short, play grappling session ahead of the latter’s UFC 307 title bout.

The former two-division champion, who now has a prominent role as a UFC commentator and pundit, has been caught frequently wrestling Pereira in the past.

Cormier fought huge stars like Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones over his 11-year UFC careergetty

He has previously stated that he likes to feel out where the Brazilian’s grappling is at by going for his legs, which may enable him to provide better commentary on the night of the fight.

Pereira was equal to Cormier’s attempts to ground him though, a brief exchange which had Cormier giggling.

It is unlikely that Pereira will face any sort of grappling in his main event bout against Khalil Rountree Jr on Saturday.

Both men have a combined total of one attempted takedowns in their entire UFC careers, and that came from Pereira in 2022.

MMA fans believe that Cormier would be their bet if the two ever met in a fantasy fight.

One user said: “DC in his prime was making all the big guys do backflips.”

Another added: “Love how DC could literally slam him over his head with that single leg.”

While a third replied: “DC could toss him on his head if he wanted to.”

Cormier won 22 of his 25 professional MMA fights, and held both the UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight titles, simultaneously, in 2018.

No.8 ranked Rountree is headlining his first ever UFC main event in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Saturday.

Pereira vs Rountree Jr headlines UFC 307 on Saturday

The American, who once weighed over 300 pounds, is on a five-fight win streak in the UFC.

Since receiving his first ever knockout in the UFC to Johnny Walker in November 2018, Rountree has been on a mission to gain championship status.

He has previously admitted to smoking two packets of cigarettes per day and regularly drinking alcohol following the death of his father as a toddler.

UFC Hall of Famer Cormier has said that Rountree could pull off a huge upset if Pereira doesn’t take him seriously enough.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Corimer got into a debate with former UFC fighter Ben Askren over the main event clash

Askren backed Pereira to knockout Rountree fast, saying that the media has built up the latter in the last week and a half as a tougher opponent than he actually is. 

“In Utah, we have now seen Kamaru Usman dominating Leon Edwards, get knocked out at the very end for him [Edwards] to become champ,” Cormier responded. 

“We’ve also seen Dustin Poirier, who had beaten Justin Gaethje, get knocked out and Justin Gaethje become the BMF champion.

“So, if there’s anything to be said about Salt Lake City, upsets happen, and it would seem that a guy who’s ranked number [eight] in the world, taking on a champion, is a blueprint for an upset.”

The last two times the UFC has appeared in Salt Lake City, Utah, both underdogs (Edwards and Gaethje) have won the main event via a head kick knockout.

TalkSPORT.com has you covered for everything UFC 307, with the main card set to begin at 3am for UK fans.