Official UFC Footage Rules out Daniel Cormier's Denial About Trying to Leave the Octagon After UFC 214 Loss to Jon Jones

Daniel Cormier's negativity about Gable Steveson leaving the octagon before the official result announcement of his UFC 331 fight triggered significant backlash from the community, as several fans accused Cormier of trying to do the same after his UFC 214 loss against Jon Jones.

Lately, 'DC' has presented multiple justifications to suggest that he had no intention of doing so, but the official post-fight footage from UFC 214 implies that fans are probably right in this regard.

Official UFC Footage Indicates That Dana White Stopped Daniel Cormier From Early Octagon Exit at UFC 214

Cormier criticised Steveson's early exit from the octagon following his loss against Sean Sharaf during his time at the UFC 331 official commentary booth. The subsequent events proved that several fans didn't take his words too well, as many of them reminded him that he had attempted the same act after his second loss to his archrival, Jones.

'DC' addressed the allegations against him in one of his recent YouTube videos, trying to clear himself of them. Cormier said he doesn't remember attempting to leave the octagon after his UFC 214 fight, counting Jones' head kick as the reason behind his faded memory of the time.

Cormier also used his octagon interview with Joe Rogan to imply that he probably didn't try to leave before the announcement of his results. He said, "The reason I think that I wasn't in the same situation is because I did the interview where I was crying in the octagon after the fight was over."

Subsequently, Cormier added another point to debunk the allegations and labeled the photos and videos presented by his critics as "AI." He said, "Then I got people in the thing telling me it's AI." He repeated the "I don't remember" narrative once more at the end.

Daniel Cormier admits he thought footage of himself pulling away from referee John McCarthy after his 2017 loss to Jon Jones was AI, after criticizing Gable Steveson for his stunt at UFC 331

“I told Gable, ‘When you lose, you take your lick, you let that man get his hand… pic.twitter.com/SqoId0ZQsP

— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) September 25, 2026

However, adding the proofs highlighted by Cormier's critics to the post-fight UFC footage of the encounter indicates that the former UFC champ-champ is indeed guilty in this case.

The posts highlighted by Cormier's critics clearly show him freeing himself of referee John McCarthy's hand during the official announcement. Moreover, the beginning of the official post-fight video of Cormier's UFC 214 fight displays him near one of the cage doors, still in a pretty agitated state. It also displays Dana White trying to reason with him to keep him inside the octagon.

Check out White trying to console an annoyed Cormier in the background (0:04):

         

Additionally, a legally questionable move also provides further clarity about this case. Despite the broadcast of UFC events being the promotion's exclusive property, a user took the risk of uploading the whole UFC 214 event on YouTube.

Checking out the video (from 03:00:10) clearly shows that Cormier shoved McCarthy's hand to walk away to the cage door himself, something that's missing in the UFC's aforementioned official footage. The video also shows the shocked reactions of almost everyone inside the cage to Cormier's unusual behavior, including Jones.

While it's impossible to say what White told Cormier to keep him in the cage, he might have reminded 'DC' about his octagon interview, which is why he stayed back and obliged. However, 'DC's' frustrated walk towards the cage door, where he had no team members, and Dana White's body language while talking to him say enough about his intentions.