UFC commentator & Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier just went scorched earth on Rinat Fakhretdinov after his controversial post-fight remarks on him and his fellow commentary team.
Following a hard-fought win at UFC 308 against debutant Carlos Leal, the Russian welterweight took offense to the UFC commentary team’s remarks. “They’re really bad commentators. The first one was pretty close, you know, it could’ve gone either way, you know but I didn’t have any doubt in the second or third one,” agitated Fakhretdinov stated in his post-fight presser.
Now, Cormier has clapped back at the Russian fighter. When the media asked the veteran about Fakhretdinov’s post-fight comments during a recent Q&A session ahead of UFC’s Canada homecoming in Edmonton, he said,
“I don’t know what this dude is talking about. I’m serious, listen, bro, he lost, I don’t care how many times he complains and that’s the thing right? These fighters, they go and they fight. It was so clear that the guy lost the fight and he gets a microphone and he goes and sticks his foot in his mouth. That’s the problem.”
“He’s a moron and he just needs to recognize that he lost!… Take it, you got gifted a win, take it, just take it and keep your head tucked down until you fight somebody next time,” Cormier added.
Seemingly alarmed and confused by the fighter’s response, DC asked the fighter to suck it in, take his gift (the win) and quit whining.
Earlier last week, pundits and enthusiasts alike scored the fight in Leal’s favor while the UFC’s judging panel thought otherwise. Even though the preliminary bout involving the Russian ‘Gladiator’ was a back-and-forth war with Leal taking the fight to him, the judges gave the 33-year-old a UD pass. This enraged the commentary team and the fans alike.
However, in his defense, Fakhretdinov deemed that the team including DC, Paul Felder, and Jon Anik were biased against him and the fight was not as close as they thought.
The time when DC received flak from his teammate for his commentary
After his final attempt at capturing Stipe Miocic’s heavyweight belt at UFC 252, Cormier announced his retirement from the sport. But even before that, the 45-year-old was seen on the commentary table, sharing his knowledge as he called the shots.
Subsequently, the veteran was roped in by Dana White as a commentator much like what he did with Michael Bisping, Dominick Cruz, and Paul Felder.
DC has had his fair share of controversies when his own teammates accused him of biased commentary. In fact, during a 2023 interview with ‘MMA Fighting’, Cormier revealed that he has had pushback in the past from former teammates for being too critical of their performances.
Sharing the conversation he had with former UFC heavyweight contender Blagoy Ivanov, DC said,
“Blagoy was fighting and he texted me on Monday, he goes ‘DC, did I not land anything?’. I was like yes you did and I gave you credit for it.
Relaying the rest of the conversation, he continued,
“He goes, ‘it just seemed like you were so intent on what was happening to me’. I said Blagoy, I said we weren’t winning, but I had to check myself because part of the reason I was doing that was because I was listening to the voices (telling me I’m biased towards my friends) when the reality, those voices, it is a select few.”
Ultimately, Cormier’s stance does not favor his boys, instead, he takes to criticizing them in a bid to get the best out of them.
