Just days before Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane fought to a “No-Contest” at UFC 321 after an unfortunate eye gouge ended things early inside Etihad Arena on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi (watch it), a private exchange between Aspinall and Daniel Cormier started making the rounds online (details here).
The moment — caught on camera during media day — showed Cormier quietly telling the UFC Heavyweight champion that he has the chance to make a lot of money and go on a generational run because the division
essentially sucks. While Cormier seemed to be offering genuine advice, he also took a jab at fellow Heavyweight Jailton Almeida, who was set to fight on the same card.
Cormier addressed the leaked moment on his weekly Good Guy/Bad Guy show.
“So, him and I were talking and the [hot] mic was on me. I was talking to Tom about the Heavyweight division. I was literally trying to tell him he could be on the verge of something tremendously special right now,” Cormier said. “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 his team released that, if I’m being honest,” he added. “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 Embedded would never do something like that. Regardless of what you’re saying — whether in jest or being honest — Jailton Almeida deserves respect, and I do respect him. 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.”
Almeida ended up losing his fight to Alexander Volkov, and while Cormier wasn’t as blunt as before, he still thinks the Brazilian needs to evolve.
“I think that he does need to round out his game,” Cormier said. “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.’ You sign up to go fight. You have to fight. You really just have to go out there and fight. I think Jailton’s going to watch that last fight and be very upset about that performance and not getting the decision.”
Unfortunately for Almeida, his title hopes are on hold for now as Aspinall and Gane are expected to rematch next year, with Volkov emerging as the next top contender.
As for Cormier, he might be a little more cautious about who he’s whispering to next time — because there’s no doubt that his leaked conversation with Aspinall looked bad on all fronts.
