The lack of fan attendance at UFC 249 in Jacksonville, Fla. is giving us a glimpse of how different sports will be in the near future. And one consequence is that athletes can hear the commentators talking — and use it to their advantage. In fact, two fighters on Saturday’s UFC 249 fight card said they did just that.
Carla Esparza beat Michelle Waterson via split decision and says she followed some of commentator Daniel Cormier’s advice to mix up her wrestling and strikes.
Esparza said that she could hear Daniel Cormier calling the fight while she was in the octagon.
He criticized her for not mixing up her strikes and her wrestling and she used it as advice and started to mix it up more.
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) May 10, 2020
Similarly, Greg Hardy says he listened to Cormier’s advice to check leg kicks from Yorgan de Castro.
Greg Hardy just credited hearing Daniel Cormier — who is on commentary — for letting him know to check leg kicks: "Game changer." #UFC249
— Shaheen Al-Shatti (@shaunalshatti) May 10, 2020
The advice helped Hardy beat de Castro via unanimous decision.
Cormier isn’t just any announcer. The 41-year-old is the No. 1 UFC heavyweight, a two division UFC champion, and former Olympian. He knows what he is doing more than your average commentator. But if they had to follow Cormier’s advice to achieve success, it makes you wonder why their corners weren’t providing the advice.
