UFC Fighter Accuses Daniel Cormier of Coaching Opponent During Commentary at UFC 316

Originally posted on The SportsRush | By Allan Binoy | Last updated Jun 20, 2025 5:02 PM ET

Daniel Cormier is not a fan of Australian Wrestling; in fact, he’s openly stated that the Australian opponents he has faced during his wrestling career may as well have given him a bye. This statement of his got him into trouble with a UFC fighter and content creator.

Quillan Salkilld is an up-and-coming Australian fighter who has a 2-0 record in the UFC and has been attracting a lot of eyes. His impressive wins over Anshul Jubli and Yanal Ashmouz have caught the eye of the fans. The Aussie fighter believes he is a part of the new ‘dominant’ era of Australian fighters.

In a recent interview with Jon Bernard-Kairouz, the topic of DC’s doubts about Australian wrestling arose. Salkilld then made a revelation that no one expected: he claims that the UFC commentator was cornering his opponent against him during his fight.

“I heard him cornering saying what my opponent to do. In the last round, we tied up into some sort of clinch situation and I heard someone say, ‘You gotta break away.’ And I thought it was his corner.” The Australian fighter then quickly realized that his opponent’s corner did not speak English, so who was it?

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A post shared by Jon-Bernard Kairouz (@jonbernardk)

“It was DC saying to him to break away he’s cornering against me.” Salkilld could not believe what he was hearing, and it prompted him to call out ‘DC‘.

UFC fighter dismisses Daniel Cormier

So what exactly did Cormier say that had the Australian fans and fighters seething? During a UFC broadcast, as he was commentating, ‘DC’ stated, “I had a couple Australian dudes there in my international wrestling career. They might as well have given me a bye. I’m glad I ain’t gotta wrestle em now.”

Although Cormier believes the level of Australian wrestling wasn’t that good when he was competing, it’s definitely gotten better now. But naturally, the Australian fighters took it as a challenge, even Salkilld had a lot to say to ‘DC’ for his comments.

In the same interview with Kairouz, he stated, “Aussie grappling beats American grappling mate. We’re seeing this with all the fights with Volk, with JDM now, like we’re hard to wrestle with, mate.” The up-and-coming UFC fighter has indirectly challenged the American grapplers.

“Maybe he should corner me next time, make things even, that’s what I think.”

Salkilld will be looking to continue his run of form in the UFC. Fans believe he could be the next big thing from Australia because of his fighting style.

It will be interesting to see how he measures up against a pure wrestler; that will be the ultimate test for him. And Cormier will get to see if the Australian can back up all the talk.

This article first appeared on The SportsRush and was syndicated with permission.

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