Everybody is entitled to their opinion, but when the opinion is critical of a good friend, things get tricky.
What Happened?
Dominick Cruz wouldn’t get away with speaking his mind during fight week. During the UFC 269 media day, Cruz would throw some shade at Daniel Cormier, criticizing his commentary skills.
While they occasionally team-up for broadcasting duties at UFC events, Cruz wouldn’t hold back, saying DC doesn’t do his homework for event coverage. He even went on to say he mutes DC’s commentary during fights.
Cormier wouldn’t ignore his comments about him, instead he did the exact opposite. On Wednesday, he confronted the former UFC Bantamweight Champion in an interview setting. The heated argument between the two would be streamed for DC’s YouTube channel, with Michael Bisping also crashing the party.
The Confrontation
“That’s the problem,” DC told Cruz. “The things we talk about privately, we’re aren’t supposed to say in public,” Cormier said. “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.”
Cruz believed he did nothing wrong.
“I did not say anything that you would not want me to say in public,” Cruz responded. “I held you accountable. That’s different. Accountability is love, DC. So when you hold your kid accountable for missing something, is it love? Do you do it because you love them?”
Cruz would reiterate his comments, saying DC wasn’t holding himself accountable, in terms of studying for commentary duties.
“But what are you holding me accountable for?” Cormier said.
“Not watching film.” Cruz replied.
Cormier’s Defense
“Dominick, there’s different ways to prepare for a fight than watching film. It’s not singular. I do watch film, I watch film every single time. Do I watch fights to the extent that you watch fights? No. I will openly say I don’t watch fights to the extent that Dominick Cruz watches, but I do watch film. Every single time. Every fighter, I’ve watched.
“I’ve watched every one of your fights. I called your last two fights. Before those fights, I watched prior fights. I watched winning fights. I watched losing fights. I watch all the fights. You know where this idea comes from though – because when you say stuff like, ‘DC, you don’t watch fights,’ I don’t bother to combat it. So then you take it as fact. I don’t say, ‘Well I do, Dominick,’ because I feel no need to have to really tell you why or how I prepare for my fights. It’s your interpretation that I don’t watch the fights because I don’t combat it.”
Mistrust of Friendship
“Can I tell you something 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.”
“That is a blatant mistrust of friendship and as a colleague.”
Bisping Pops In
Former UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping would join in on the fun. He would ease the tension between both fighters/commentators, making them laugh along the way.
“I was told to come over.” Bisping said as Cruz & Cormier broke out in laughter.
“Come on Bisping, after watching you (and Cruz) fight so many times, why the hell are you gonna be the mediator?” DC hilariously responded.
Bisping breaks it up momentarily between the two DC’s and they all say they love each other mid-way into the video. ‘The Count’ would then land a 10-8 on DC out of nowhere: “Why don’t you do some research on your commentary, then?”
The trio would burst out in laughter after a good joke landed for the Englishman. Bisping would play the referee as DC and Cruz talked to each more on what happened between them.
