Daniel Cormier says he welcomes the personal trash talk between Justin Gaethje and Ilia Topuria ahead of UFC Freedom 250, arguing that storylines and tension are what push casual fans to tune in to big fights.
Cormier addressed Gaethje’s jab at Topuria’s divorce on his YouTube channel, framing it as a net positive for the June 14 event.
“I always like when there is trash talk accompanying a fight — especially a championship fight and especially a fight of that magnitude where you have the greatest backdrop for any fight in the history of the sport, the White House — where you have two championship fights in front of what will be the biggest fan audience that we have ever seen in mixed martial arts.”
Cormier said the shift in tone between the two fighters benefits the broader event.
“You need to have those things that surround the fight that make the general fan go, ‘I’ve got to see this.’ I get it: The White House is going to draw a lot of people in that might not have been before. But to see now that the pleasantries aren’t as evident as they might have been before, I like it. I like the storylines. I liked when I saw Ilia Topuria get mad because Josh Hokit was going crazy on Alex Pereira. I liked that press conference because I am a fan of this thing.”
Gaethje captured the interim lightweight title by defeating Paddy Pimblett in January. Topuria last fought in June 2025 when he captured the 155-pound title.