There are no hard feelings between Daniel
Cormier and Sean
O’Malley.
Petr
Yan defended the
Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight title in a trilogy
bout against Merab
Dvalishvili at
UFC 333 on Saturday in Abu Dhabi. Cormier subsequently asked
Yan about a potential rematch with Song
Yadong, who was in attendance at Etihad Arena.
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Daniel Cormier explains his Song Yadong question after Petr
Yan’s UFC 333 title defense
O’Malley and his coach, Tim Welch,
criticized Cormier’s question in their respective UFC 333 reaction
videos on YouTube. “Suga” and his team believe he deserves the next
title shot because the former champion has beaten both Yan and
Song.
Cormier recently interviewed O’Malley on his YouTube channel to
clear the air. The UFC commentator explained that he mentioned Song
because the Chinese contender was in the arena and the production
team had told him Song was about to appear on screen.
“Petr Yan defends his title and Song Yadong’s in the arena,”
Cormier recalled. “I said, ‘Well, Song Yadong’s right there.’ I’m
gonna be completely honest with you, the truck in my ear’s going,
‘We’re gonna show Song.’ I messaged you and you immediately go,
‘Dude, I don’t take it personally; there’s no deal. It is what it
is.’”
O’Malley acknowledged that he had sometimes wondered whether the
former two-division champion disliked him. His perspective has
since changed, however, recognizing that lengthy broadcasts can
lead commentators to make remarks they don’t intend or that come
across poorly.
“There were times when I felt like, ‘Man, does DC not really f*ck
with me? Does he want to see me lose?’” O’Malley said. “There was a
part of me that had that kind of feeling over the course of fights.
And then you put it into perspective – you guys are sitting there
eight, nine, 10 hours commentating. Every single fight, every
single fight card. You’re bound to say something you don’t
necessarily mean, or it just comes off the wrong way.”