Reyes Gave Cormier an F-Plus — and the UFC 333 Commentary Feud Is Still Going
Event: UFC 333: Volkanovski vs. Evloev — October 24, 2026, Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi
Image credit: UFC.com
Dominick Reyes won his fight at UFC 333. Then he started a second one, from the airport, with the commentary team.
Reyes knocked out Azamat Murzakanov in the first round on Saturday in Abu Dhabi. [1] Hours later, after watching the fight back, he went after Daniel Cormier on social media, calling the former two-division champion a "low IQ hater" and accusing him of biased, underprepared commentary. [2][6] Cormier replied, telling him to chill. [2] Then Jon Jones jumped in too, reminding Reyes that he had beaten them both. [2]
That was supposed to be the end of it. It was not.
"He was so off base"
On Monday night, Reyes took the argument to The Ariel Helwani Show. He said he watched the fight at the airport and could not believe what he was hearing.
"I watched the fight at the airport and I was like, dude, what are you talking about man? He was so off base on so many different things. You didn't do any research and now you're just kind of talking, man," Reyes said. [4]
His wider point was about preparation, not just one call. "It's just the fact that you're ill-prepared, and you have a tendency to be a little bit biased," he said. "Being a fighter doesn't automatically make you an expert in striking." [2]
The clip above is that Helwani Show appearance, as embedded by BJPenn. [1] In it, Reyes puts the same argument in blunter terms: Cormier, he says, gets a pass because he is a double champion, and that pass lets him skip the research. "Everybody gives him a pass, like he knows everything about everything, but that's not how the world works, man," Reyes said. "He was a great fighter, and I'm not saying he wasn't, but as a commentator, he slacks off because he lives off of his double-champ status, in my opinion." [1]
Then he started grading the whole booth
Reyes did not stop at an interview. On Monday he launched a new series on his own YouTube channel called The Commentary Scorecard, going through Cormier's UFC 333 calls line by line, with timestamps. [2]
The grades, as first reported by MMA Fighting, were brutal for one man and kind to the others: Cormier got an F-plus, Jon Anik got a B-plus, and Paul Felder got an A. [3]
The specific complaints tell you what kind of show this is. Reyes flagged Cormier saying Murzakanov switched to southpaw — Murzakanov, Reyes pointed out, is naturally a southpaw and never fights orthodox. He called Anik bringing up his 2022 blood clots a "dead horse comment" unrelated to the action. And he pushed back on Cormier saying he was now back fighting ranked fighters, noting he has only fought ranked opponents since his four-fight skid began. [3]
The sharpest moment, in Reyes's telling, was Cormier joking that referee Mike Beltran "just wanted to see murder" by letting the finish play out. Reyes compared that to the criticism referees like Herb Dean get, and said commentators have to stay unbiased whatever their relationships with fighters. [3]
One apology, no climbdown
Here is the twist that keeps this story from being a simple rant. Reyes later apologised for the "low-IQ" jab itself, calling it heat of the moment — while standing by everything else. [5]
That distinction matters. He is not taking back the criticism of the commentary. He is taking back one insult inside it. The substance — underprepared, biased, too comfortable — stays on the record, in his own words, on Helwani's show and in his own grading series.
Cormier, for his part, had already answered in the original exchange, saying he only speaks the truth about Reyes's performances, good or bad, and that Reyes could always talk to him directly. [2] Reyes is not the first fighter to go after Cormier's commentary either — BJPenn notes that Dominick Cruz has famously said he mutes broadcasts when Cormier is calling fights. [1]
So where does it go from here? Reyes has won two straight since his losing skid, and no next fight has been announced. [3] But he has now built himself a show about the people who call his fights. The next time Cormier is on the headset for a Reyes fight, everybody in the building will be listening to two contests at once.
For Cormier's other big UFC 333 week role — the title-shot case he made for a heavyweight contender — see our Cormier: Volkov Next for the Heavyweight Title, With Two Conditions piece, and for the rest of the Abu Dhabi fallout, our UFC 333 fallout roundup and the UFC 333 event page.
Sources
1. BJPenn — Dominick Reyes opens up on Daniel Cormier feud after viral social media tirade
2. Bloody Elbow — Dominick Reyes accuses Daniel Cormier of not doing any research after UFC 333 feud was sparked
3. MMA Fighting, via Yardbarker — Reyes Blasts Cormier With F-Plus Grade For UFC 333 Call
4. Sportskeeda — "He was so off base" - Dominick Reyes demands accountability from Daniel Cormier after UFC 333
5. Wire Report — Reyes apologizes for low-IQ jab at Daniel, stands by UFC 333 criticism
6. MMA Junkie — Dominick Reyes trashes 'low IQ hater' Daniel Cormier for 'bias' UFC 333 commentary
Fight data compiled from public statistical sources (ufcstats.com) and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). OctagonStats is an independent database, not affiliated with UFC / TKO Group.