Earlier this week, we learned that UFC 230 heavyweight title challenger Derrick Lewis had signed a sponsorship deal with fried chicken giant Popeyes. Lewis’ deal with the fast food giant stems from an incident earlier this year, when he claimed to defend the restaurant’s honor after heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier shared a funny video of himself dancing with pieces of fried chicken in his hands.
While the full terms of Lewis’ deal with Popeyes are unknown, we do know that he’ll be receiving free chicken for life at a franchise in his hometown, and can assume there’s probably plenty more on the table. Whatever the case, Daniel Cormier is bummed out that he wasn’t the one to get the sponsorship deal with the chicken chain.
“It sucks,” he said at UFC 230 media day this week (transcript via MMA Mania). “It really sucks that he got it done. I don’t know what happened. My managers need to get on their shit.
“I wanted money,” he added. “That might have been the problem. He got free chicken for life- that’s pretty impressive.”
While Daniel Cormier is disappointed he missed the chance to link up with Popeyes, he added that he’s holding out hope for a deal with Carl’s Jr, another giant of that fast food industry.
“Since Popeyes wants to stick it to me, I’m going to go and do a signing and give away free burgers at Carl’s Junior, that’s what I’m going to do,” he said.
And from the sounds of it, Carl’s Jr. is most definitely team Daniel Cormier.
Speaking on its official Twitter account, which is now called “Carl’s Jr. / Daniel Cormier fan account,” the fast food chain assured Cormier that its DMs are open.
why wait til after you win? DMs are open DC let’s shake this out
— Carl’s Jr. (@CarlsJr) November 2, 2018
“Why wait til after you win? DMs are open DC let’s shake this out,” the account stated.
Do you think Daniel Cormier should ink a sponsorship deal with Carl’s Jr.?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/2/2018.