Outside Source
Tom Aspinall’s first heavyweight title defense ended in a no-contest due to an eye poke from Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 last Saturday. Aspinall released footage of a backstage conversation with Cormier leading up to the fight. Cormier was telling Aspinall that he could go on a spectacular title run, considering the scope of the heavyweight division. Speaking of Almeida as a potential contender, “DC” clearly told Aspinall, “Jailton can’t fight.”
Advertisement
Cormier claims his statement on Almeida was taken out of context. The UFC Hall of Famer meant to say that Almeida is mostly a grappler, so less of a threat to Aspinall. Cormier is also upset with Aspinall for releasing the footage where he is clearly whispering, which means he wanted the conversation to be private. Cormier also expressed respect for Almeida and felt bad for his comments about “Malhadinho.”
Cormier: Almeida Deserves Respect
“I was literally telling him, ‘You could possibly be on the verge of something tremendously special.’ What I was saying was that ‘Jailton’s going to grapple you. It’s not as dangerous a fight.’ And I could have done a better job of saying that to Tom,” Cormier said on the “Good Guy/Bad Guy” pocast. “I was a little upset that Tom released that, if I’m being honest with you. When you lean in to someone and you’re talking quietly, that’s a private conversation that should stay between you and the athlete. I thought it was [UFC] Embedded. And I knew that Embedded would never do something like that.
“Jailton Almeida deserves respect, and I do respect him. And I felt bad, man. Because he’s been so nice to me since he got into the UFC. And I think Jailton Almeida is a great guy.”
Almeida fought Alexander Volkov at UFC 321. Despite controlling “Drago” for nearly 11 minutes, Almeida was barely able to land any damage. Volkov did just enough to rope in a split decision victory.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
Help support MMACrazies.com when you shop Amazon by starting your online Amazon shopping at MMACrazies.com/recommends/amazon. You are not charged extra, but we receive a small and very helpful commission on everything you purchase. Thanks for thinking of us every time you shop at Amazon.
