Reyes doubles down on Cormier bias claim as O'Malley's coach questions DC's Song pitch

Dominick Reyes went on The Ariel Helwani Show on Monday, October 26, and again called Daniel Cormier a biased commentator. He said the bias runs toward Russian and Dagestani fighters. On the same show, Sean O'Malley's coach Tim Welch questioned why Cormier floated Song Yadong, not O'Malley, as Petr Yan's next challenger.

Both complaints come out of UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, October 24. Reyes knocked out Azamat Murzakanov at 2:40 of the first round in the last fight of the prelims.

What Reyes said

Hours after the fight, Reyes went after Cormier on X, calling him "low iq hater ass DC" and objecting to being called "kid", Uncrowned reported. Cormier replied that night: "I don't call you kid negatively I've only spoke truth to you." After more back and forth, Reyes said he would stop, "but not because you asked me to."

On Sunday, Cormier posted on X that an edited Paramount+ highlights package had set Reyes off. He quoted his own broadcast call, which said Reyes "came back and started knocking people out."

Reyes picked it back up on Monday. He told Helwani that Cormier's ties to friends and longtime training partners Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev shape his calls. "It's been years and years of him being biased," he said, adding that Cormier "slacks off because he lives off of his double champ status."

He apologised for the "low IQ" line, saying it came in the heat of the moment, but stood by the rest. "Bottom line: Do better," Reyes said. He also named Dominick Cruz the UFC's best commentator and called Cormier "extremely well-spoken," per Sherdog.

Reyes kept going on his new YouTube show, The Commentary Scorecard, grading Cormier an "F-plus", MMA Weekly reported on Tuesday. He disputed Cormier's call that Murzakanov had switched stances: "Murzakanov is a southpaw naturally," he said, per MMA Sucka. He also objected to a Cormier joke about referee Mike Beltran, arguing lines like that invite abuse of referees. None of the reports we read include a reply from Cormier to Monday's interview or the YouTube show.

O'Malley's camp

In the co-main, Yan beat Merab Dvalishvili by unanimous decision, 48-47 on all three cards. Cormier floated a rematch with Song, who was sitting cageside. In his cage interview, Yan said, "Give me Song Yadong, give me King Kong! Give me anybody!" per MMA Sucka.

Welch told Helwani he was confused by Cormier's pick. O'Malley beat Song by unanimous decision at UFC 324 in January and beat Yan at UFC 280 in 2022. "I think 'DC' was pushing for Song because maybe deep down 'Suge' rubs him the wrong way," Welch said, per Uncrowned. He admitted he could be wrong and said he planned to talk to Cormier.

By Tuesday the O'Malley side had cooled. O'Malley told Helwani's YouTube channel that Cormier had messaged him on Instagram, according to Super Fights. He said Cormier told him he should fight for the title, and he called their later talk cordial.

What's next

The UFC hasn't named Yan's next challenger. Dana White said after the event that O'Malley and Song are "both obviously great options." Since losing to O'Malley, Song has submitted Deiveson Figueiredo and knocked out Umar Nurmagomedov in August, closing at +460 in that fight.

We think O'Malley has the stronger case: he beat Song in January and holds a split-decision win over Yan, disputed as it was. Yan has also beaten Song, so either choice is a rematch. Song's run since January is good enough that Cormier's suggestion wasn't out of nowhere.

Reyes has no fight booked. He says he wants another light heavyweight title shot and will keep grading broadcasts on YouTube. He is 17-5 and has won five of his last six, with the only loss coming against champion Carlos Ulberg.

Reyes closed at +170 against Murzakanov on our fight page, about a 35% chance once the bookmakers' margin is removed. Since 2020 he is 3-1 as an underdog and up 1.79 units across nine priced UFC fights, per our fighter page, which uses a +175 close for this win.