Former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier has urged fans not to believe the wrestling room narrative spread by lightweight king Islam Makhachev.
2022 has seen some bad blood feuds, from Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington‘s animosity-fueled collision to the upcoming showdown between Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler. In the opposite vein, American Kickboxing Academy teammates Cormier and Makhachev are hilariously going back and forth over their exchanges on the mats behind closed doors.
The battle began when they gave different recollections of their past grapples. While Cormier claimed to have beaten the newly crowned 155-pound champion, the Russian promised to dig up footage to back up his argument.
Earlier this week, Makhachev made good on his word, uploading a clip to Instagram showing him taking down and briefly outgrappling the former light heavyweight and heavyweight titleholder.
“Finally, everyone will find out the truth, who’s wrestling is better. I warned you DC. Make sure watch the video guys,” Makhachev wrote on Instagram.
Not one to roll over to his younger and lighter fellow AKA standout (except on the mats, if Makhachev is to be believed…), Cormier has responded.
During the latest episode of ESPN MMA’s DC & RC show, Cormier noted that Makhachev’s footage shows just part of their wrestling match, insisting that he was the one who had his hand raised by the end.
“So here’s the deal… Don’t buy the video,” Cormier said. “First off, Makhachev has the greatest video editors of all time, because yes, he did get points there, he got four points there in wrestling… but Ryan (Clark), he didn’t put the rest of the match! If you scroll through those videos, there’s a guy named Romero Cotton that was the official, he was scoring the points. By the end of the match, I was the guy with my hand raised! I won the match!”
But Cormier’s response wasn’t only words — he brought receipts…
With the help of one of his wrestling pupils, Michigan State University junior Chase Saldate, Cormier also had some video evidence to share, but not of his own exchanges with Makhachev.
Instead, a video was played showing Saldate taking the UFC lightweight champion down. As Makhachev frantically scrambles towards the exit door, “DC” can be seen celebrating his student’s triumph.
“Roll the video. How can I take him serious when my student, a kid from a high school team, is taking him down! Look at Islam trying to dive out of the wrestling room! Look at me celebrating. Bro, there’s always cameras in the American Kickboxing Academy, so you can never hide. That’s my boy Chase Saldate, he’s a student at Michigan State. He got the two takedowns on Islam.”
Has Daniel Cormier had the last laugh in his grappling battle with Islam Makhachev?
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