Daniel Cormier has seen Jorge Masvidal’s criticism of “white knights” with commentating jobs who side with the UFC in the struggle for fighter pay. And the way Cormier sees it, if Masvidal was referring to him, he’s got it all wrong.
Masvidal has been embroiled in a public dispute with the UFC over his contract situation, claiming the promotion wanted him to take less money to fight welterweight champion Kamaru Usman than what he made for his “BMF” title fight with Nate Diaz last November. The UFC eventually moved on and booked Gilbert Burns to challenge Usman in the UFC 251 main event on July 11.
Since the booking, things have escalated. UFC president Dana White said he’s not surprised Masvidal turned down the offer and compared the “BMF” champ to the Diaz brothers. In response, Masvidal blasted the UFC and said the promotion gave him an 11th hour “take it or leave it” offer to fight Usman.
It was among this string of tweets in which Masvidal called out the “white knights.”
And for the #whiteknights that have commentating jobs with the ufc that say “just fight” you guys should be embarrassed to call yourselves current/former fighters. Not one of you been doing it as long as me and like me. There’s a reason you are “commentating”
Cormier has said before that he believes the better approach to requesting a pay raise from the UFC is to keep discussions private. However …
“I never said just ‘fight,’” Cormier told ESPN. “But the guy (Masvidal), when he says current or former fighters, and he said you haven’t been doing it as long as me? No, I haven’t. ‘Or like me’? What does ‘or like me’ mean? Had as much success?
‘If he’s talking about me, I’ve done it like him, if not better. Not just him, I’ve done it better than most people in the world, so I think maybe he wasn’t talking about me. If he was, it just doesn’t work. Maybe he’s talking about those others guys, because that part of ‘or like me’ doesn’t work for me. I haven’t done it as long, but in the time I have done it, I’ve done it better than just about anybody who’s done it, if not better than anybody that has ever done it.”
Cormier has spent the past few years working as a UFC color commentator in the latter years of his career, setting himself up for a post-fight career in television. The likes of current fighters Dominick Cruz and Paul Felder, as well as UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping, are colleagues of Cormier’s on the announce desk.
Cormier makes no apologies for their career paths.
“I think those guys that are commentating, that’s great,” Cormier said. “They’re making money; they’re securing their future. Hey, you make a lot of money calling fights. It’s a good job to have. I think, man, people just gotta, like, chill.”
Masvidal’s feud with the UFC became public not long after light heavyweight champion Jon Jones went public with his discontent for the promotion’s pay structure after his request for a raise to fight Francis Ngannou at heavyweight was denied. With Masvidal and Jones both represented by Abe Kawa of First Round Management, Cormier points to that as an issue for Masvidal.
“That’s the problem, especially because him and Jones are managed by the same person, so if they’re taking the same approach, they’re vastly different people,” Cormier said. “Jones has been champion for so long, he’s done so many things, he’s got so much more financial security, and ultimately the UFC has to come to the table because you’re holding the belt. … As long as you have the belt, people got to come back to you to talk to you. You’re the champ. I do believe that (Masvidal) misses a big opportunity.”
Daniel Cormier: If Jorge Masvidal's 'white knights' diss meant for me, it doesn't work
