UFC 269: Sean O’Malley blasts Daniel Cormier for ‘stupid’ commentary – ‘what’s your fight IQ?’

‘I’ve always felt like DC wants me to lose,’ says surging bantamweight star, who sealed a first-round TKO on Saturday night

O’Malley admits Cormier has a ‘hard job’, however – ‘I couldn’t sit out there and commentate … I would sound like a complete idiot’

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Sean O’Malley prepares to enter the Octagon for his bantamweight bout against Raulian Paiva at UFC 269. Photo: AP/Chase Stevens

Published: 9:23pm, 12 Dec 2021Updated: 5:22pm, 13 Dec 2021

The criticism just keeps on rolling in for Daniel Cormier, with Sean O’Malley taking the former UFC double champ to task following his first-round TKO of Raulian Paiva on Saturday night.

Former bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz caused a storm in a teacup during UFC 269 fight week in Las Vegas, telling the media his broadcast colleague Cormier “doesn’t do the homework” when preparing for events.

Now the 135-pounds division’s biggest rising star O’Malley – who stopped on his way to his post-fight media interview to congratulate Cruz on securing a unanimous decision on the undercard – has also taken aim at Cormier.

“I wanna thank myself for looking at the clock [against Paiva] and seeing how much time was left, because some people – Daniel Cormier – in my last fight [against Kris Moutinho], he was like, ‘Oh my god, he’s looking at the clock!’ What are you talking about, dude?” O’Malley said backstage at T-Mobile Arena.

“Yeah, I wanna look at the clock. If I didn’t look at the clock I wouldn’t know how much time I’ve got left. If I land a big shot, I gotta know should I empty the tank and try to take this dude out, or should I wait and save my energy?

“That kinda bugged me. He kept bringing it up, ‘He’s looking at the clock!’ Dude’s a double champ … what’s your fight IQ? You think LeBron James is gonna drive the ball down the court and not look at the clock?”