Cormier confronts Cruz over commentary criticism

UFC commentator Daniel Cormier believes fellow broadcaster Dominick Cruz crossed the line by saying he doesn't do his homework before events.

"When it comes to DC (commentating), I usually mute it," Cruz said during Wednesday's UFC 269 media day, according to Damon Martin of MMA Fighting. "I love DC, he's my friend, but to me, from my experience, he doesn't do the homework. He wants to get in and out, get the job done, make his money, and I think he cares about us, but it's just different."

Following Cruz's criticism, Cormier invited the former bantamweight champion for an interview on his Youtube channel.

"Can I tell you something right now as a friend? It was wrong of you to say what you said this morning," Cormier told Cruz. "Because that was not fair of you as a colleague to do that publicly. You should tell me."

The two commentators sat directly in front of one another during the nearly 12-minute interview.

"The Dominator" said his comments were meant as constructive criticism.

"I held you accountable," Cruz said. "Accountability is love, DC."

Cormier refuted the claim that he doesn't watch film before commentating. He also said he believes that his reluctance to deny Cruz's previous criticism about the topic didn't help the issue.

"Dominick, there's a different way to prepare for a fight than watching film," Cormier said. "It's not singular. I do watch. I watch film every single time. Do I watch fights to the extent that you watch fights? No. I will openly sit here and say I don't watch fights to the extent that Dominick Cruz watches. I do watch film. Every single time."

Cormier admitted during the interview that he previously had a research assistant collect notes for him before events, but he stopped using the extra help to take a more hands-on approach to prepare.

The two UFC stars laughed off any ill will and referred to each other as "brothers" before the interview concluded.

Cormier will be in his usual cageside seat when Cruz steps into the Octagon to take on Pedro Munhoz on Saturday.