Jon Anik hopes things eventually get sorted out between Dominick Cruz and Daniel Cormier.
Cruz returns to action when he takes on Pedro Munhoz in the UFC 269 prelims on Saturday night. Leading up to the fight, Cruz made headlines when he notably claimed that he muted Cormier on commentary.
He particularly took issue with Cormier’s preparation, especially compared to someone like Anik who he heaped praise on.
“When it comes to DC, I usually mute it,” Cruz said while smirking. “I love DC, he’s my friend, but to me, from my experience, he doesn’t do the homework. He wants to get in and out, get the job done, make his money. And I think he cares about us, but it’s just different. He doesn’t do the preparation from my experience. He might now. I’m hoping he watches some film this time on my fight so he knows what I’m doing and why I’m doing it. But I’m not gonna hold my breath on that, that’s for sure.”
Cormier didn’t take those comments so well as while his friendship with Cruz didn’t get affected at all, he was still taken aback by the fact that the latter made those comments in public.
“That’s the problem,” Cormier told Cruz in a one-on-one interview later in the day. “The things we talk about privately, we’re aren’t supposed to say in public. That’s what you just did. That’s our rule, you say so many things privately that I wouldn’t ever say publicly. You and I say things privately that we never would say publicly.”
Jon Anik: Taking Shine Away From Fighters Is Not Ideal
As someone who is close to both men as well as being broadcast partners, Anik was naturally asked what he thought of the whole spat.
While he hopes things get smoothened out between the pair, he believes the broadcast team should never take the attention away from the fighters that are competing.
“It went from entertaining I think to start being a little disappointing,” Anik told MMA Junkie. “I knew inevitably I was going to be asked about it. They all prepare differently, so I’m not going to engage too much as far as that is concerned. Dominick and I have spent a lot of time together, so he has seen me intimately prepare for these shows, so I appreciate he had some kind things to say. But any time the broadcast team is taking any shine away from the athletes that are competing, this is not an ideal situation. The fact that Dana White is being asked about the broadcasters and that friction at the press conference, we’re talking about this instead of Geoff Neal and Santiago Ponzinibbio as our kicker to the interview. So I don’t like when we or any broadcasters take any shine away from our athletes.
“Hopefully there’s lessons to learn all around. Dom don’t give a rip what people think. Like, he shoots from the hip. He’s one of my best friends in the world and he’s insulted me to my face and he’s been right. He’s not afraid to tell it how it is. There are many instances in the past where Dominick has shot from the hip and it doesn’t seem to grab as many headlines. Hopefully, they can smooth things over in terms of their personal relationship, but Dominick Cruz is not going to back down I can tell you that.”
You can watch his full interview below:
