What’s the story?
UFC Light-heavyweight champion Daniel ‘DC’ Cormier gave his views about WWE Superstar Roman Reigns while speaking to the media at the UFC 210 post-fight press conference.
Cormier, who received thunderous boos from the crowd in attendance at UFC 210 in Buffalo, NY, compared himself to Reigns, pointing out the similarity between the negative fan reactions that the WWE Superstar and himself have been receiving.
In case you didn’t know...
DC is a former US Olympian, Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winner and the current UFC 205-pound champion who successfully defended his belt against Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson at UFC 210 last night.
Cormier is a self-confessed big-time professional wrestling mark and WWE fan.
The heart of the matter
Speaking at the press conference that followed his UFC 210 title fight, Cormier addressed the boos that were rained down on him by the UFC fans at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York.
Here are a few excerpts from his statements:
“So (if) people wanna boo, it’s fine. Just don’t be…don’t ‘not care’. That’s all I care about. And just don’t be indifferent. As long as you care, I am fine. So when they’re booing in there, it’s fine. It (boos) just bounces off of me.
You’ve gotta enjoy man. I was just telling a story earlier, about how I was watching WWE WrestleMania last weekend and I said ‘Wow, it would be great if Roman Reigns pins the Undertaker. Clean!’ It’s how the old-school guys do business.
And Monday night, Reigns walked out to the ring, and they booed him for ten minutes and would not allow him to talk. It was the most organic crowd that they (WWE) have had in a very long time.
He said, ‘this is my yard’ and he left. It was perfect because they are playing the game for him (Reigns) now. That’s me.”
Speaking about his post-fight interview/promo inside the Octagon, he added:
“And you know what, if I’m in the Octagon, berating Jimi Manuwa and Jon Jones, it’s my Octagon. I’m the one in there, fighting right now with that gold belt.
So you’re gonna sit there and you’re gonna take it. I insisted that they (UFC) didn’t put a microphone by either one of them. Sit there with the camera on your face and just take it because I’m the one that’s out there leading on the line.
If they don’t like it, it’s fine.”
Here’s the video where Daniel Cormier made the aforementioned statement:
What’s next?
After putting on one of the best performances of his career against world-renowned knockout artist Anthony Johnson, Cormier will most likely defend his strap against arch nemesis Jon Jones after the latter’s suspension gets over in the month of July.
Also read: WWE News: Daniel Cormier gives a thumbs up for WWE making Kevin Owens the champ
Meanwhile, Roman Reigns is riding the momentum of his victory over the Undertaker at WrestleMania 33, with a match against Braun Strowman on the cards at WWE RAW’s pay-per-view Payback on April 30th.
Author’s take
As the old saying goes - Practice what you preach. Daniel Cormier, for one, most definitely abides by that, as he didn’t let the thunderous boos rained down on him by the fans bother him one bit.
Much like Reigns, he went in there and got the job done. A piece of cake (no pun intended) for DC.
Besides, it’s nice to see a true legend like Cormier openly indulge his WWE fandom, unlike most other MMA fighters who, time and again, criticise pro-wrestling as being beneath them. Learn from DC, haters! Long live the connoisseur of Cake n’ Chicken!
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