UFC legend Daniel Cormier is ‘upset’ at Tom Aspinall for sharing footage of a private conversation between them prior to the Brit’s eye-poke nightmare at the weekend.
Cormier had been interviewing Aspinall for UFC Embedded and thought the cameras had stopped rolling but the heavyweight star had his own crew present for his YouTube channel’s behind-the-scenes piece.
A hot mic picked up Cormier, now employed as a pundit and commentator, making an embarrassing whispered comment about UFC heavyweight contender Jailton Almeida, who he said ‘can’t fight’, while excitedly telling Aspinall he could swat aside easy opponents if he beat Ciryl Gane.
Cormier said: ‘These matchups in this division, like, do you know what type of f***ing run you can go on? It would be crazy. You can like change your life.
‘Because I mean, what is it? Jailton Almeida is fighting [Volkov]. Jailton can’t fight. [Even if Volkov wins], you beat him in the first round. It could get f***ing crazy.
‘It doesn’t come around often, it’s like when I fought Volkan, I had to defend the belt against Volkan Oezdemir one time, did I win the lottery or something?’
Cormier, a former UFC light-heavyweight and heavyweight champion, has to interview the fighters on a regular basis and maintain strong relationships given his broadcasting role with the promotion. The footage showed him cracking up with laughter while making the comment about Oezdemir.
To be heard diminishing Almeida in such brutal terms was an unprofessional look and he’s since spoken about his disappointment in Aspinall for posting the video.
Cormier explained on Good Guy/Bad Guy: ‘I was literally trying to tell him you could possibly be on the verge of something tremendously special right now.
‘In that statement, I was saying Jailton’s going to grapple you. It’s not as dangerous a fight. I could have done a better job of saying that to Tom.
‘Now I was a little upset that Tom and them released that, if I’m being honest with you. I thought when you lean into someone and you’re talking quietly, that’s a private conversation that should stay between you and the athlete.
‘I thought it was Embedded, and I know that Embedded would never do something like that.’
Aspinall has not yet responded to Cormier’s criticism of the decision to publish their supposedly private chat.
Despite the American’s frustration, he also admits he made a mistake, adding: ‘Regardless of what you’re saying, whether you’re saying it in jest or you’re being honest, Jailton Almeida deserves respect, and I do respect him and I feel bad. He’s been so nice to me since he got into the UFC, and I think Jailton Almeida’s a great guy.
‘I think that he does need to round out his game. Because the grappling is elite, but there’s no damage. Even Dana [White] went up there after the fight and was like “I’m so glad that Volkov won because you don’t just get to take somebody down and hold them down.”
Almeida is out of the immediate title picture having lost against Volkov at UFC 321 on a night that the main event captured the attention for all the wrong reasons.
Aspinall’s highly-anticipated title defence against Gane was cut short when the Frenchman poked him in both eyes in the first round and the British star was unable to continue.
Aspinall retained his UFC heavyweight title via no contest in an anticlimactic end just four minutes into the opener in Abu Dhabi.
Aspinall attempted a kick, Gane went at his rival with a punch and inadvertently raked his fingers across his eyes. A five-minute timeout ensued, and the doctor stepped in.
Aspinall was spotted telling the doctor: ‘I can’t see,’ with the doctor himself telling the referee that he had ‘no immediate concerns about the globe’.
After four minutes of the five allocated, however, the fight was waved off as a no-contest.
Now, after attending hospital and having the injury looked at, Aspinall took to his YouTube channel to show off the outcome and fire at shot at his opponent on the night.
‘All that training for that,’ he said. ‘What the f*** is he doing?
‘He got warned twice before it. Twice before it he got warned for it and he f***ing did it again.’
Gane, however, said: ‘I didn’t do it on purpose. I know what it’s like to have an eye poke, because when I fought Derrick Lewis, I got an eye poke and I was seeing two of Derrick Lewis for a full round.
‘During a bit of the round and the rest of the round, I saw two of Derrick Lewis. So I’m not going to say, he’s a liar.’
Aspinall, who was sat with his eye strapped up, added: ‘I could feel how deep it was in my eye. It feels like the back of my eyeball is hurting. It feels like someone’s touched the back of my eyeball.
He was also seen being assessed by medical professionals in the video, and he appeared to quiver in pain as a light was shone in his eye.
After the fight, as Aspinall was interviewed, fans booed, and the Mancunian wasted no time hitting back.
‘Guys, I just got f***ing poked knuckle deep in the eyeball,’ he said. ‘What the f***? Why you booing? What am I supposed to do about it? I didn’t do the f***ing poke. I can’t see.
‘This is bull****. The fight was just getting going. Complete bulls***. I’m p****d off.
‘I can hardly open my eye. Look! F***ing double poke, both eyeballs.’ Aspinall then headed to hospital.
Gane, who cut an emotional figure after the fight, said: ‘I am very sorry for that. For the crowd, for the fans, for everybody.
‘Sorry for Tom Aspinall, sorry for myself.’
