UFC commentator Daniel Cormier said the images of a direct-message exchange that appeared to show Eric Trump, a son of President Donald Trump, attempting to solicit inside information about the UFC Freedom 250 event were not real and were the result of his account being hacked.
“They’re not real, I can’t believe you guys believed that,” Cormier said after the UFC Freedom 250 event in a video shared by political correspondent Nicholas Ballasy. “I got hacked or something, who believes stuff like this?”
The first post with the screenshots was shared and then deleted Sunday evening on Cormier’s X account, shortly before the fight card began at the White House. A second post from Cormier’s account, which quoted Eric Trump’s tweet calling the original screenshots fake, was posted during the Freedom 250 broadcast and was also later deleted.
Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization, responded to the issue on X. “We are aware of the fake, AI-generated screenshots being circulated online,” Trump posted. “I have never spoken to Daniel. He has since deleted his post, which confirms it was clearly fabricated.” A Trump Organization spokesperson told The Athletic that “it looks like Daniel’s X account has been hacked.”
We are aware of the fake, AI generated screenshots being circulated online. I have never spoken to Daniel. He has since deleted his post, which confirms it was clearly fabricated. @UFC @danawhite
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) June 15, 2026
The UFC declined to comment on the story after Freedom 250. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
In the disputed direct messages, Trump’s account appeared to ask Cormier’s account for sports betting tips about fights on the UFC 250 Freedom card. One message read, “Who you got winning?” Another asked, “Are any of the fighters injured that you know of?”
After Cormier’s purported account deflected these questions, the Trump account responded, “I’ll just cut to the chase. Are any of the fights tomorrow rigged?”
As a UFC employee, Cormier would be prohibited by company policy from engaging in betting activity related to any UFC event. Sharing privileged information to gain an advantage in sports betting could also expose him to criminal fraud charges. For example, Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz are on paid leave by MLB as they await a November trial over an alleged gambling scheme in which they are accused of predetermining the results of prop bets. In the NBA, guard Terry Rozier is on leave as he awaits his trial. Rozier is accused of taking a bribe to manipulate his performance.
Multiple screen captures and screen recordings shared by X users suggest that Cormier briefly shared images of the exchange on his account before erasing the post. “I’m probably going to get a lot of flak for bringing this to light, however I refuse to stay silent,” the former two-weight UFC champion purportedly wrote in the deleted post. “The UFC is a sport that I’m deeply passionate about I will not tolerate this type of insider behavior. Shame on anyone trying to ruin this beautiful event.”
— Mark Puleo contributed to this story.
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