Jacobe Smith hits back at Dominick Reyes over Daniel Cormier criticism
The unbeaten welterweight, coached by Cormier, said critics of his coach are frustrated with their own careers, as he prepares to face Randy Brown on less than two weeks' notice.
Jacobe Smith has defended his coach Daniel Cormier after Dominick Reyes criticised the former two-division UFC champion's work as a colour commentator.
Reyes graded Cormier's commentary F+ after it was used on his knockout win over Azamat Murzakanov at UFC 333. Smith, who is undefeated, faces Randy Brown in the co-main event of Saturday's UFC Vegas 123 card.
Smith said that fighters who attack Cormier are usually going through a stretch where their careers are not going as planned or they are not getting the attention they want, and that they would see what kind of person Cormier is if they met him face to face. He said he sees it every day around Cormier and his family, and compared how his coach handles attention in public with how other stars might.
Smith said: “When we’re in public and it gets overwhelming and how you deal with it, it’s so professional and I could see Conor McGregor in that situation and him having his security keep people away and like, no, he’s the most down-to-earth person.” The 30-year-old said he deals with plenty of abuse himself, including insults aimed at his mother, despite winning all four of his UFC fights inside two rounds. His approach is to let it pass, though he admitted it can get bad. “It gets terrible. If I went through the worst things, you would, you would not believe me.” Smith steps in for the injured Carlos Leal against Brown, who is making his 23rd walk to the octagon and has lost his last two fights, most recently a decision to Kevin Holland at UFC 327 in April. The pair have trained together in the past and Smith said he has great respect for Brown, but called him the best opponent of his career.
Smith said: “We go in there and handle business, get out 14-0 and hopefully get a top 15 opponent.”
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