Former UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, who also held gold at 205 pounds, transitioned to the broadcasting desk after retiring from combat sports back in summer 2020. Aside from his unapologetically biased commentary, “DC” is using his ESPN show to peddle hot takes from all the latest headlines in MMA.
Which includes his reaction to the UFC 279 main event.
“I could not believe what I was seeing,” Cormier said (transcribed by MMA Fighting). “I’m not saying it was the worst fight of all time, not by any stretch of the imagination. It tells me that Nate Diaz still has a little bit left in the tank if he wants to fight, but it also tells me Tony Ferguson is done as a guy that I’ve seen in the Octagon. Tony Ferguson is done, bro. He is a shell of himself and he doesn’t want to retire. He actually said he feels like he got better, he saw some good things. I’m like what did he do in there to show that he’s better than he was prior?”
Ferguson was submitted by Diaz but insists he sees “growth” instead of losses.
“The crazy thing about Tony Ferguson to me is that it wasn’t a gradual decline,” Cormier continued. “It was like he got to the edge of the cliff and just fell off the cliff. It was Justin Gaethje then that was it. The moment he was done [was] that interim title fight — he wasn’t as good. Granted, he lost to Beneil Dariush and Charles Oliveira so you go, ‘Well, he’s fighting the best in the world.’ But now we got to see him fight Nate Diaz who’s not the best in the world right now. Nate will tell you he’s the best in the world, but he didn’t do great against Nate.”
Not surprisingly, “El Cucuy” took exception to Cormier’s assessment.
“Cormier Should Put The Sweets Down,” Ferguson wrote on Instagram, perhaps forgetting about those tasty pizza rolls. “Too Much Sugar Will Go To Your Head like Ol’ Fathead Khabieber. Once a hater always a vagina. Champ. -CSO- MF’as.”
Cormier previously trained with Ferguson’s top rival, Khabib Nurmagomedov.
There was a lot of finger pointing after Ferguson fell to Diaz at UFC 279 last weekend in Las Vegas. “El Cucuy” admits to “sandbagging” fights in recent years, which may explain why the former “Ultimate Fighter” champ has lost five straight contests. UFC President Dana White, however, believes Ferguson got bad advice from his corner.
Either way, Cormier called his shot back in August.