“I’m not apologizing for doing my job.”
Former UFC double-champ and soon-to-be Hall of Fame inductee Daniel Cormier has been part of the commentary team for years now. While there are those who enjoy his inputs during fights, many aren’t big fans of his work on the mic.
But if you ask “DC,” it all boils down to the differences in perspectives as a fan and someone tasked to call the fights.
“Indifference is a problem. I’ve taken that from my fighting career where people were kind of divided on me,” Cormier told MMA Junkie. “You had the guys that cheered and the people that booed and it’s the same thing with commentary.
“I know how hard I work at this. I know how much time I spend preparing for this. I know (what) I try to give these guys and tell their stories and do them justice. Sometimes, people just don’t see what you see and that’s really on them. But I’m not apologizing for doing my job, and I think that’s the beauty in being a fighter.”
Cormier says it was because of colleague Joe Rogan that he learned to brush off the criticisms thrown his way.
“People can be mad at you, but it’s like we just gotta talk about it, right? I’m not a guy that – they gotta move a little different around me. I don’t really worry about it too much,” he said.
“Rogan told me, I was on some, ‘Ah the fans, this, this’ and then Rogan said it on air. He goes, ‘Oh, you gotta be careful with our bias commentary.’
“He just doesn’t care. He just does not care because the reality is it does not matter. You’re put in a position to do a job that is very, very difficult, and very few people in the world can do it, so you do it to the best of your ability.”
As for accusations of him being a biased commentator, especially when calling fights of teammates, Cormier had this to say.
“I don’t watch this with a bias. If my teammates are fighting, I hope that they win,” he said.
“But unfortunately when that happens, I tend to go the opposite way. Blagoy (Ivanov) was mad at me after his last fight because he was like, ‘DC, bro, I was doing good things, but you almost made it seem like…’ I tend to go the opposite way to try not to.
“Deron Winn when he’s fighting he’s like ‘Dude.’ It’s hard because you’re a human being. That’s why at a point I can sympathize with the referees and the judges because they’re human beings.”
Cormier will be part of the three-man commentary team for UFC 275 this weekend in Singapore, alongside Jon Anik and fellow Hall-of-Famer and ex-champion Michael Bisping.