‘He Did a Lot of Damage to My Career’- Daniel Cormier Believes the Bad Blood with Jon Jones Is ‘Never Going to Fade”
There are very few storybook rivalries in the history of MMA, but one such contentious rivalry that will stand the test of time is between Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones. Arguably two of the biggest names in the sport’s modern history, Cormier and Jones, have gone to war on every platform possible.
Be it inside the cage, at media day, or on conference calls, the rivalry between Cormier and Jones has seen several highs and lows.
Both men first met at UFC 176 when Jones did enough to win out a rather comfortable unanimous decision over his arch-rival. Several years later at UFC 214, both men collided once again and while Cormier put on a strong offensive performance early on, he was eventually knockout out via head kick.
However, it was later revealed that Jones had failed a drug test, and this result stands as a no contest. Both men never faced each other again and Cormier would pick up the reigns as champion once Jones was stripped.
Years later, the bad blood still flows
While in an interview with Oscar Willis from ‘The MacLife’ ahead of UFC 275 in Singapore, Daniel Cormier was asked if he had moved past his rivalry with Jones. Daniel Cormier didn’t hesitate to say that he still harbored resentment towards ‘Bones’ Jones as he had stalled his career on several occasions.
He made it clear that the disdain is ‘never going to fade’ no matter how many years of separation is brought up between them.
“Not necessarily. It sounds bitter but he did a lot of damage to my career. That’s not fair so that’s (dislike) never going to fade”
Despite his open disdain for Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier recognizes his rival’s greatness inside the cage. Additionally, he favored Jones to defeat the consensus heavyweight GOAT Stipe Miocic when the two face each other. The booking isn’t confirmed, however, Jon Jones’ heavyweight debut is almost certainly set to be against Miocic.
— BONY (@JonnyBones) May 15, 2022
Fans of the sport will be waiting to see how Jon Jones performs in this next phase of his career as he’s been away from action for over two years now.