Daniel Cormier has issued his first comments following his devastating loss to Jon Jones at last night’s (Sat., July 29, 2017) UFC 214 pay-per-view (PPV) event in Anaheim, California.
Due to the fact that “DC” was still feeling the after effects of a knockout loss, he didn’t take the defeat well initially. But, that’s to be expected when a fighter is barely coming to and has people around him and a mic shoved in his face.
After a day to reflect, Cormier took to Instagram to issue a heartfelt statement following only the second loss of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career.
First off, thank you all for the kind words. I have felt the support. Congratulations to Jon Jones and his team. They did a phenomenal job and got the victory. Also, to Big John McCarthy, I would like to apologize for acting up with you. I am thankful for the time you gave me to try and defend myself and stay in the fight. You are the best in the business for a reason. I also wanna thank my team and my coaches. I love you all from the bottom of my heart. Your time and energy is greatly appreciated. You guys did a wonderful job, I was ready. It’s a fist fight and things happen. Dana White and the @ufc, thank you for being the premiere organization in all of MMA. Again, congrats to Team Jones and JacksonWink. Love you all. I’ll see you soon.
Daniel’s apology to John McCarthy stems from the fact that a visibly upset Cormier could be seen trying to relay something at the longtime referee — perhaps complaining of the stoppage — prior to shoving him away when McCarthy was about to announce the winner.
“DC’s” comments are truly a breathe of fresh air, as some former champions aren’t quite so gracious in defeat, and proves that he wasn’t in his right state of mind a few seconds after getting knocked out, dispelling any notions that the former Olympian is a bad sport.
Furthermore, it seems the former Light Heavyweight champion is far from done in the fight game.
Cormier scored an event high $1 million payday for his rematch against Jones. And though it’s highly unlikely he’ll ever get o face “Bones” again, there are still plenty of tasty match-ups awaiting him in the Octagon.
For complete UFC 214 results and blow-by-blow coverage of the main card action click here.