Eric Trump has denied cheating allegations after screenshots shared online appeared to show UFC commentator Daniel Cormier receiving a message from an account under Trump’s name asking whether any of the White House’s UFC fights on Sunday would be rigged.
Several screenshots posted – and then later deleted – on Cormier’s X account showed alleged messages from Donald Trump’s 42-year old son that said: “Anything you can tell me about the fighters tomorrow? Who you got winning?”
The messages went on to say, “You placing any bets… Are any of the fights tomorrow rigged? I’ve been eyeing the [Diego] Lopes fight and I think an upset wouldn’t be too unrealistic,” followed by “$$”.
In a since deleted post on the 47-year old retired fighter’s account, a caption accompanying the screenshots said: “Im probably going to get a lot of flak for bringing this to light, however I refuse to stay silent. The UFC is a sport that I am deeply passionate about [sic] I will not tolerate this type of insider behavior. Shame on anyone trying to ruin this behavior.”
Trump quickly denied the allegations, writing on X: “This is completely fake! I have never reached out to Daniel. In fact, this is scary.”
In another post, Trump wrote: “This did not happen. They were AI generated. Please be careful with reporting.”
Cormier also denied the screenshots on X, saying: “Are people really this dumb?” To which Trump replied and tagged Cormier: “Thanks @dc_mma.”
Upon being asked in person by a spectator whether the screenshots were real, Cormier said: “Not real. I can’t believe you guys believe that… I got hacked or something… Who believes stuff like that? That’s crazy… Why would I do that?”
In a separate statement, Trump Organization spokesperson Kimberly Benza also denied the posts, saying: “These screenshots are fake. They were fabricated and do not reflect reality. This is one of the dangers of AI-generated content: false information can spread quickly when people don’t verify what they’re seeing. Please do better before sharing misinformation.”
Sunday’s bloody spectacle – which coincided with Donald Trump’s 80th birthday – has already been marred by controversy, after one UFC fighter, Josh Hokit, repeated the false conspiracy claim: “Michelle Obama is a man.”
The event also drew a high-profile audience, with several major tech moguls in attendance alongside Trump’s family, including David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta and Kris Marszalek of Crypto.com.