Jon Jones has a lot at stake on Saturday night, but that isn’t keeping the reigning light-heavyweight champion from thinking about what comes after his UFC 165 bout with Alexander Gustafsson.
At a Monday media luncheon (via MMAfighting.com), those in attendance heard “Bones” sound off on contenders Daniel Cormier and Glover Teixeira.
Not only does Jones feel that Daniel Cormier lacks name value, but he appears to have a personal distaste for the Strikeforce Grand Prix winner:
To be honest with you, I don’t think Daniel Cormier really deserves a big fight. I don’t respect him as a person. I think fighting me would be an opportunity of a lifetime for him. I don’t think I have much to gain from beating Daniel Cormier because no one knows who he is, and he hasn’t really proved much.
Jones feels that African-American fighters owe it to their community to have a good relationship with one another. Along with former teammate Rashad Evans, the champ feels snubbed by Cormier‘s animosity toward him:
He seems to really not like me and be a big hater of mine. It’s sad, considering we’re both African-American and there’s not many of us in the sport. We should try to find a common bond. We don’t need to be friends, but we should at least respect each other. It’s pathetic that me and Rashad have such a bad relationship and me and Daniel have such a bad relationship.
While the champion has no personal beef with Glover Teixeira, he wasted little time in debunking the Brazilian as a legitimate threat to the title:
I thought he showed signs of being a high-level fighter. I don’t think he’s ready to beat me. I thought he showed signs, being punched that hard by Bader shows me where he’s at. No matter what your excuse is, it still happened. If you’re a seasoned vet and you said you allowed overconfidence to be your weakness, it’s still a weakness you allowed to happen in the first place. If you have a great opponent and great understanding, then you won’t rush into a guy like Ryan Bader who is obviously going to swing looping punches at you. I don’t think he’s the guy who’s going to beat me.
It is interesting that Jones referenced the fighter who will (eventually) beat him.
After all, he seems more interested in future matchups instead of the weighty task that awaits him in the form of Alexander Gustafsson.
Is the champ making a dangerous mistake by gazing into the horizon instead of devoting his full focus on his opponent for Saturday night?
Do you agree with his belief that Daniel Cormier is without the sort of name value needed to be a PPV draw?
How do you feel about his assessment of Glover Teixeira? Let us know in the comments below.
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