Reyes accuses Cormier of 'clear bias' after UFC 333 first-round finish in Abu Dhabi

Dominick Reyes stopped Azamat Murzakanov in under three minutes at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, then immediately sparked a public dispute with cageside commentator Daniel Cormier over what Reyes called “clear bias” in the broadcast booth.

Reyes, who has now won back-to-back fights after a split-decision victory over Johnny Walker in April, finished Murzakanov with a sharp head kick and a signature left hand to earn the first-round stoppage. The performance drew praise from Cormier on commentary — but that did little to smooth things over.

Shortly after the fight, Reyes took to Twitter to criticise Cormier for repeatedly addressing him as “kid” during the broadcast. Cormier responded directly, insisting the term carried no negative intent.

“Yo Dom, chill,” Cormier wrote. “I don’t call you kid negatively. I’ve only spoke truth to you. When you do amazing shit like you did today, I praise you. If you do something like the last fight with Johnny, I speak the truth about that, too. But these comments seem like you’ve been carrying something with you for a while. You can always talk to me. I’m not very hard to find.”

Reyes was not satisfied. He escalated the exchange by accusing Cormier of favouring fighters from the North Caucasus region — a pointed reference to Cormier’s close friendship and long-standing training partnership with Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev, both from Dagestan, Russia. Reyes also cited fellow commentator Paul Felder calling out the bias live on air.

“My name is Dominick, not ‘kid,’” Reyes wrote. “Yeah, I heard your commentary tonight on my fight. How about the part where Paul called you out for your clear bias? And what did you do? You laughed about it. I’m bothered by your lack of research and knowledge whilst commentating. Your ‘expert’ commentary sways the opinions of average fans and that has a profound effect on our lives. Your clear bias towards fighters from the Caucasus region is frustrating, especially being an American fighter.”

Cormier attempted to de-escalate, telling Reyes he had personally praised his performance to his team backstage and describing the public row as “insane.” Reyes was unmoved, telling Cormier he did not care about being liked — only about receiving impartial, well-informed commentary.

“I’m not your buddy, guy,” Reyes replied. “I only care that you have unbiased, well-informed color commentary. I will stop now but not because you asked me to.”

The back-and-forth appeared to wind down later in the evening. Reyes posted praise for Murzakanov and then offered a broader olive branch, writing: “I’ve realized we are all out here doing our best. Commentary team included. Sometimes it doesn’t go our way or how we imagined it would go.”

Cormier, a former two-division UFC champion, has been a regular member of the promotion’s commentary team since retiring from competition.