Are people — especially UFC fighters — getting carried away with their commentary criticism?

Are people, both fans and fighters, getting carried away with criticism of UFC commentators like Daniel Cormier? And how much should judges care about successfully fending off takedown attempts?Plus, finally Alexander Volkanovski is getting the appreciation he deserves. All that and more in this week's mailbag. To ask a question of your own, hit up @BenFowlkesMMA on X or @Ben_Fowlkes on Threads.@pmsdeadandalive: what's your favorite current ufc booth and dream booth if you were in charge? i think saturday's anik/dc/felder is the best we actually get for numbered events, but i don't mind dc like so many apparently do. but in a perfect world i'd swap him out for laura sanko and be all set.Man, people really seem to be piling on with the Daniel Cormier criticism lately. Personally, I am not bothered by his commentary the way some people seem to be. I was especially surprised at how upset Dominick Reyes got about what seemed to me to be mostly positive or at least neutral remarks from Cormier during his fight.But I also know from experience that fighters are hearing something completely different than everyone else when they go back and watch their own fights. I've sat with fighters and watched it back and been surprised by how they fixate on the tiniest things. They think they weren't given enough credit here, or that their opponent was given too much credit there.I also think we're kind of spoiled for good options these days, especially in the former-fighter-turned-color-commentator role. Newer fans of this sport have no idea how rough these broadcasts used to be. UFC 1 literally started with a burp on live TV.@pal20755694: What do you think about Lomachenko's return? Do you think he still has a chance at this age to fulfill his dream of becoming the undisputed superfeatherweight champion?Vasiliy Lomachenko turns 39 in February, and it's coming up on about three years since his last fight. Most people in that situation would be better off enjoying the sport of boxing from outside the ropes. But then, Lomachenko isn't most people.I do wonder how his greatest strengths — especially the magic trick of vanishing and then reappearing off to one side of his opponent, poised to counter — will age. But mostly I wonder why. Is he another fighter who, once he got a good, long taste of the retired life, felt like something was missing? Because that's a problem you don't solve with a comeback. All you do is put it off for later.I'm reminded of the line I came across while researching this story on the fight between Rocky Marciano and Joe Louis:" Young men have visions, old men have dreams. But the place for old men to dream is beside the fire."Merab Dvalishvili went 5 of 58 on takedown attempts in his quest to regain the bantamweight title from Petr Yan.Jeff Bottari via Getty Images@AzzaHausen: With the 3rd up for debate in yan vs merab, why don't we give as much for defending takedowns as much as the takedown itself when scoring a fight.People are arguing the one kick won the round and not the 10 plus takedowns he defended.The way judges are instructed, takedowns that don't lead to anything shouldn't count for much at all. This point was hammered over and over again when I was at the Combat Sports Officials Summit. The main thing they're scoring for is damage. It's only when that is equal (or non-existent) that things like takedowns and control come in.But I also don't think that defending takedowns should count for much, either. Defense is a thing you do to save your own skin. If your opponent does nothing but shoot takedowns and you stop each one, but without ever pulling off any offensive moves of your own, I can't see how that's you winning a fight.Seemed like Merab Dvalishvili's whole strategy here was to spam Petr Yan with so many takedown attempts that he would be forced to focus all his energy and attention on defense at the expense of his own offense. That worked for exactly two rounds, then not at all. Dvalishvili got five takedowns in the whole fight, and all of them came in the first two frames. The next three rounds, he went 0-for-39 on takedowns. That tells a certain kind of story.@justlikelasagna: Haven't check in in a while so….pretty easy one. How the hell is Volk so damn cool? I'll hang up and listen.Alexander Volkanovski is genuinely a special fighter, in many ways, and I'm glad we're all seeing it after that destruction of Movsar Evloev. It's so rare for us to agree on anything in this sport. But then here's this guy still holding it down at the top of the division in his late 30s, and all while appearing to be a good person and generally likable dude who also happens to be a naturally talented comedic actor somehow. We shouldn't take a fighter like that for granted, especially since we get so few of them.