Daniel Cormier fires back at critics of his in-cage encounter with Brock Lesnar

Shortly after UFC light heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier knocked out Stipe Miocic to capture the heavyweight title and make history as just one of two men to hold titles in two weight classes concurrently, he called out Brock Lesnar. Lesnar, the former champ and a current WWE star, then lumbered into the cage, where a heated confrontation ensued. There was trash talk, machismo, even a few shoves.

While this heated, in-cage encounter will serve as a gold mine when the UFC is assembling promotional material for Cormier and Lesnar’s controversial title fight, it generated some significant criticism from the fans. Many onlookers felt it was a little too far removed from the bushido code of the martial arts, and a little too close to the testosterone-infused world of pro wrestling.

Daniel Cormier, a long-time pro wrestling fan, has heard these criticisms, and he was happy to shrug them off.

“‘Staged… they’re idiots.’ Fine. Stay broke,” Cormier said of his naysayers (via MMAJunkie). “You got a guy like Brock Lesnar in front of you, and you don’t go crazy on him? Are you crazy? When Brock decided to step in the Octagon with me – he’s a pro wrestler. He does fake fighting. So I’ll do fake fighting with you until I put my fist up inside of your face. I’ll do fake fighting with you, Brock, then I’ll punch you upside your head. So, yeah, you guys call it fake online. I see a bunch of fighters, ‘Oh that’s so fake. I don’t want to watch this.’ Tune in and keep lacing my pockets. You guys got to get on board. These guys get on the microphone after their fights and say, ‘Yeah, it’s whatever the UFC decides.’ OK.”

What did you think of Daniel Cormier’s and Brock Lesnar’s in-cage skirmish at UFC 226?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/8/2018.