Daniel Cormier and Dominick Cruz are friends, but the former two division champion felt like it was a betrayal of trust for those issues to be raised publicly.
Dominick Cruz is fighting this weekend, but he still found time to take a jab at his good friend and fellow UFC color-commentator, Daniel Cormier. The former bantamweight champion called DC out publicly for not watching enough tape on the fighters he commentates on.
“He doesn’t do the homework,” Cruz said about Cormier. “He wants to get in and out, get the job done, make his money.”
Cormier has since put up a video with him confronting Cruz about his comments, saying it’s something that shouldn’t have been said publicly about a teammate and a colleague.
“That’s the problem. The things we talk about privately, we aren’t supposed to say in public,” Cormier told Cruz. “Can I tell you something right now, be honest as a friend? It was wrong of you to say what you said this morning, because that was not fair of you as a colleague to do that publicly.”
“I’m not allowed to say how I feel? I’m wrong now?” Cruz responds.
“Dom, that’s not fair!” Cormier says. “That’s bullshit, Dom. That is blatant mistrust of friendship and as a colleague.
“I’m not mad at you. I’m just saying that as a colleague, a professional courtesy, you don’t do that to your teammates. Those things, you don’t say in the public.”
Bisping also eventually came in as a “mediator” for his fellow commentators and former UFC champions. As for the issue about tape study, Cormier claims he watches film and also revealed that he also used to pay an analyst to take notes for him before UFC events.
Here’s how that hilarious conversation went:
Cormier: “I do watch film! I will openly sit here and say that I don’t watch fights to the extent Dominick Cruz watches fights. When you say stuff like ‘DC you don’t watch fights’ I don’t bother to comeback, so you then take it as fact… I feel no need to have to really tell you why or how I prepare for fights.”
Bisping: “I know there used to be a guy… You used to have someone that assisted you with your research. And (last Saturday) you said no, you haven’t done that for a long time, A. Because you wanted to know the research better yourself, and B. because you save money.”
Cormier: “So I did initially. So I had a researcher that I would pay, that would give me all my notes, and I would go and call the fights.”
Cruz: “So how is that watching film?!”
Cormier: “I would watch the fights still! But the guy would give me all the background stuff and all that stuff.”
Cruz: “Why? That’s your job!”
Cormier turns to Bisping: “Let me ask you a question. Did you think about doing that too?”
Bisping paused, and all three started laughing.
Cormier: “What happened? Why didn’t you do it?”
Bisping: “I’ll tell you why. I like to give the first fight on the prelims the same amount of attention and respect as the main event.”
Cormier: “Oh my god. You brown-nosing son of a b—h. You told me that shit was too much! It was way too (expensive)”
Cruz: “There needs to be one guy who keeps it real. Because of this.”