Cormier Shoots Down Claims Of Pro-Izzy Commentary

Jan Blachowicz retained his light heavyweight title by outlasting middleweight kingpin Israel Adesanya at the UFC 259 pay-per-view (PPV) event last Sat. night (March 6) at APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, and despite a couple wonky scorecards, there was little controversy in the final outcome.

But the cageside commentary team, particularly longtime mouthpiece Joe Rogan and former heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, came under fire for “biased commentary” in favor of “The Last Stylebender,” who entered the contest as a sizable betting favorite.

“I just rewatched. I don’t agree at all,” Cormier told an inquisitive fan on Twitter. “I was actually speaking to Jan and the times he was successful. I had the fight 2-2 going into (Round) 5 and after watching it again I feel same way. Nothing changed. And by the way, Jan did bite on a ton of fakes and feints. Izzy didn’t capitalize.”

Rogan and Cormier are no strangers to commentating controversy. Rogan publicly apologized for comments he made about Khabib Nurmagomedov’s striking at UFC 223, while “DC” had to make amends with Cody Stamann after UFC 216.

It’s no secret the promotion was positioning Adesanya for a couple of marquee matchups in the very near future and not many (if any) media outlets picked Blachowicz to retain. But perhaps the best criticism against the UFC 259 commentary was the gutsy win from the 205-pound champ.