Daniel Cormier found himself at the center of a strange social media controversy ahead of UFC White House.
Twitter was buzzing Sunday evening over an alleged conversation between Cormier and Eric Trump, the son of President Donald Trump, in which Eric supposedly asked Cormier for inside information on tonight’s fights. Multiple social media accounts posted screenshots of the alleged direct messages, claiming that Cormier later tweeted and deleted the exchange.
The allegedly deleted Cormier tweet read,
“I’m probably going to get a lot of flak for bringing this to light, however I refuse to stay silent. The UFC is a sport that I am deeply passionate about, I will not tolerate this type of insider behavior. Shame on anyone trying to ruin this beautiful event.”
See screenshots below.
In the screenshots of the alleged direct message conversation between Cormier and Trump, Trump first asked if Cormier was planning to place any bets on the fights. When Cormier told him he is not permitted to bet on UFC fights, Trump then asked if any of the fighters are injured, which drew a confused response from Cormier.
“I’m not quite sure why you’re asking me this, but I think they’re all in good shape,” Cormier wrote.
Trump then asked directly if any the fights are fixed, punctuating his query with a pair of dollar signs.
“I’ll just cut to the chase,” Trump wrote. “Are any of the fights tomorrow rigged? I’ve been eyeing the Lopes fight and I think an upset wouldn’t be too unrealistic. $$”
Cormier replied, “No, none of our fights are rigged and honestly, I am appalled that you would even ask me something like that.”
The conversation is longer available on Twitter, but Cormier appeared to address the controversy in a later tweet.
“Are people really this dumb?” Cormier wrote.
It’s unclear if Cormier is suggesting that the conversation is fake, that his account may have been compromised, or referring to something else entirely.
Cormier is currently scheduled to provide cageside commentary for tonight’s event on the South Lawn of the White House.
