Controversy over alleged Daniel Cormier & Eric Trump X exchange over ‘rigged’ UFC Freedom 250 fights
On a night that is unprecedented in many ways came a social media exchange between UFC commentator Daniel Cormier and Eric Trump over the potential for “rigged fights” for betting purposes at UFC Freedom 250.
In a now deleted post on X, Cormier posted, “I’m probably going to get a lot of flak for bringing this to light, however I refuse to stay silent. The UFC is a sport that I am deeply passionate about I will not tolerate this type of insider behavior. Shame on anyone trying to ruin this beautiful event.”
He was referring to a DM exchange (seen below) between himself and U.S. President Donald Trump’s son where Eric asked if Cormier “could tell me about the fighters tomorrow?” and who he had winning. He then asked if Cormier was placing any bets to which the former two-division champion replied that he wasn’t allowed to.
Trump then asked if there were any injured fighters Cormier knew about (Cormier questioned why he was being asked), straight out asked if any of the fights were “rigged,” and that he was eyeing the Diego Lopes vs. Steve Garcia fight as one where “an upset wouldn’t be too unrealistic. $$”
Cormier replied, “No none of our fights rigged and honestly I am appalled that you would even asked me something like that.”
Cormier is part of the UFC Freedom 250 broadcast team and later deleted the tweet after Eric posted, “This is completely fake! I have never reached out to Daniel. In fact, this is scary,” later claiming it was generated by AI.
Cormier then posted, “Are people really this dumb?” as if he never posted on X to begin with. However, the replies to the tweet still exist and several journalists like A.J. Perez, Adam Martin and our Ryan Frederick verified his initial tweet by Cormier was indeed posted.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.