UFC: Daniel Cormier hits back at Jorge Masvidal claim – ‘if he’s talking about me, I’ve done it better’

Daniel Cormier isn’t sure if Jorge Masvidal was talking about him in his latest Twitter tirade. But if he was, then the former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champ has something to say to “Gamebred”.

Masvidal has been at odds with the UFC after failing to negotiate an acceptable fee for a title fight against welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. New No 1 contender Gilbert Burns slid in to face his Sanford MMA teammate on the July 11 card on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.

“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 [have] been doing it as long as me and like me. There’s a reason you are ‘commentating’,” Masvidal tweeted this week, in an apparent reference to Cormier who is also an analyst with the company. Cormier has been outspoken about fighter pay in recent appearances on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show.

“I do believe he misses a very big opportunity,” Cormier told Helwani after the “BMF” champ’s latest outburst. “That was the fight [Masvidal vs Usman]. But like I told you, Gilbert looked as good as anybody I’ve seen in a long time, and I think he’s a real problem for Kamaru Usman. Gilbert Burns, he said OK. Everybody else said no, it sounds like.

“I never said ‘just fight’. 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?”

“Um,” Cormier added, laughing, “if he’s talking about me I’ve done it like him if not better. 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, that part ‘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 who’s ever done it.”

UFC: Masvidal ‘feels bad’ for White after Diaz comments

Former UFC champions Dominick Cruz and Michael Bisping are also part of the UFC commentary team, as well as No 6-ranked lightweight Paul Felder.

“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 chill.”

Masvidal’s comments came as part of a series of tweets on Monday, as he hit back at criticism after UFC president Dana White revealed the 35-year-old recently signed a seven-fight deal with the UFC.

“I already explained why I signed a new deal,” Masvidal, who last fought Nate Diaz in the UFC 244 main event in November, wrote. “It’s either take it or leave it and not get paid. I would’ve signed another deal if it was done in good faith. He [White] called me the night before he wants to announce and tell me take or it leave it. That’s not negotiating, that’s strong-arming.

“For that fight I was compensated more. For the five remaining I am not. I have always been able to negotiate going forward except now when it comes time for the title fight, I go backwards? GTFOH. In essence it’s a one-fight deal. Henry Cejudo, Jon Jones, Conor [McGregor] and I’m still trying to get paid, not played. Why we here now.”