Daniel Cormier talks retirement, Jon Jones, regrets, Mayweather in MMA
Stephie Haynes: Let’s talk about the FOX desk. Over the past few weeks, Brendan Schaub’s odd comments about the quality of the analysis coming from there have led to lots of debate and hard feelings. You were mentioned by Brendan as being the best part of the team. What’s your opinion on that situation?
Daniel Cormier: I don’t exactly know what the intended reaction was to those comments. If you listen to the podcast, he’s very complimentary of me regarding the job that I do, but he went on to say the other stuff. I’ve made those comments myself—sometimes it’s me, Karyn (Bryant) and Tyron (Woodley) and I’m like, ‘What is this, BET?’ Of course, I’m joking, I’m playing around. We all play around.
The crazy thing is, FOX doesn’t even hire the talent. The UFC puts them in those positions, so I don’t really know what was intended with what he said. But, Brendan has developed this style where he’s shocking people with some of the things that he says, and when you start to do that, you’re almost obligated to stay down that path. Sometimes Skip Bayless says things that are just ridiculous, but it’s almost like he has to because that’s what we’ve come to expect from him. It’s kind of what he built.
I think Brendan has developed that type of style. You know what, it’s obviously working for him. He’s got a show on Showtime, two massively successful podcasts, and a comedy career. I think in this day and age, that “Oh my God, I can’t believe he said that” tone is really valuable in the sports community. That’s why these debate shows are so popular around the world. You’ve got one guy speaking facts and the other guy saying random, crazy shit, and everybody is like, ‘Oh I can’t believe that dude just said that.’ That type of on-air personality has gotten really big in today’s society.
