Daniel Cormier isn’t thrilled with Tom Aspinall after a private backstage conversation made its way online.
Before UFC 321, Cormier sat down with heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall for a one-on-one interview — but after cameras stopped rolling, he leaned in to share some personal thoughts. Cormier praised Aspinall’s potential and said he could go on a dominant run in the heavyweight division. During that same conversation, he commented that contender Jailton Almeida “can’t fight,” referencing Almeida’s style ahead of his bout with Alexander Volkov.
To Cormier’s surprise, that post-interview moment appeared in a behind-the-scenes video posted on Aspinall’s YouTube channel. The clip quickly went viral, drawing attention to Cormier’s remarks about Almeida.
“I was a little upset that Tom and them released that,” Cormier said on Good Guy/Bad Guy. “When you lean into someone and talk quietly, that’s supposed to stay between you and the athlete. I thought it was an Embedded camera, and they would never use something like that.”
Cormier later apologized for how his words came across, emphasizing that Almeida deserves respect — despite his struggles in recent fights against Volkov and Curtis Blades. “Regardless of what you’re saying, Jailton Almeida deserves respect, and I do respect him,” Cormier said. “He’s a great guy. But he does need to add damage to his grappling. You can’t just hold people down — this is fighting.”
Almeida’s loss to Volkov hurt his title hopes, while Cormier now admits he’ll be more cautious about what he says off-camera. “I was just trying to tell Tom he’s on the verge of something special,” he added. “But next time, I’ll make sure the cameras are really off.”
#AD
💳 Want a card that works worldwide, even where others fail? Try RedotPay — the prepaid crypto card trusted by over 1M users (⭐ 4.7 Google Play).
✅ Works on 90%+ of sites & apps
✅ No purchase fees
✅ $5 back on first card
✅ Safe, fast, and easy — with exclusive rewards under “Benefits”
Use referral code exqfj or click here to get started today!