UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and No. 1 contender Daniel Cormier capped off a busy day promoting their title bout at UFC 178 with more bickering on Monday’s FOX Sports Live. With Jones on set with commentator Kenny Florian, and Cormier set up in the FOX newsroom, the pair spent the majority of their appearance working out who was to blame for their now infamous brawl that took place Monday afternoon in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand.
As the conversation shifted from sober apologies to fight promotion, Jones took the lead by promising fans that they would be witness to some “very malicious, violent things to happen the night of Sept. 27.”
“You can say there’s going to be malicious things happening Sept. 27, hey, I embrace that,” Cormier responded. “I embrace that. Bring it to me. Meet me in the center of that Octagon and let’s fight.”
“Daniel, you know that I am going to bring that to you,” replied Jones. “I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure you never forget the night you stepped in the Octagon with me.”
“Your sad reality is that everything in your power will not be enough,” said Cormier. “Because I’m still going to beat you.”
Jones also confirmed that he had spoken with UFC president Dana White and CEO and owner Lorenzo Fertitta about the incident.
“Dana texted me, Lorenzo Fertitta called me and asked me what happened,” said Jones. “I basically told him the situation. I told him I’ve been in many staredowns, I’ve witnessed many staredowns. I did not expect to get hit in the throat. I told him, as a man, champion or not, that’s not going to stand. I can see it now. If I would have allowed him to hit me and not retaliated, there would have been a lot of people who respected me for walking away, but there would have been a lot of people who would have called me a coward or a wuss for allowing that to happen. Outside of what anyone else thinks, I couldn’t allow that to happen. I told Lorenzo Fertitta if anyone ever hits me then I’m going to do what I have to do to protect myself.
“For the most part, a lot of people are loving this. They’re eating it up. I’ve had Indianapolis Colts call me and all these football players call me. Just people from all over calling me. So excited, so much more anxious to see the fight. In a way, it was a good thing. In a very opposite way, it was a terrible thing for the UFC.”
Calling the brawl “silly” and “petty,” Cormier explained that none of it would matter as soon as he gets ahold of Jones on fight night.
“Jon and I can do stuff on Instagram,” said Cormier. “We can poke fun at each other on Twitter. We can build a fight. But at the end of the day, they’re going to lock the cage with him and I in it and we get to settle our differences. We’re not going to do it once. We’re going to do it twice because I’m going to beat him in September and then we’re going to fight again at the beginning of the year. Then he’ll realize he never wants to get locked in the cage with me again.”
“I’ve fought many great wrestlers before,” Jones responded. “I think there’s a huge difference between a great wrestler who’s learned how to throw a few punches and kicks and a martial artist. I embody the spirit of a martial artist, the heart of a martial artist, what it truly means to be a martial artist. I’ll give up my arm. I’ll give up an eye. I’ll give up a toe. It doesn’t matter.
“There’s nothing you can do to stop me, Daniel Cormier. There’s absolutely nothing you can do. You said you could take me down 100 out of 100 times, right? That’s what you’re going to do, right? I challenge you to get me down five times in that five-round fight. You won’t be able to do that. Maybe you will get me down once. I believe in my whole heart that I’ll get you down, too. But the difference is, when I get you down, your face will open up. There is nothing you can do to stop me from coming at you round after round with the most malicious techniques I know. You will lose this fight, Daniel Cormier. I want you to believe it. Every ounce of training you put in leading up to this fight will be a waste of your life.”
“This is what I want,” said Cormier. “I want a dog fight. If you can bring a dog fight to me, please do it. I live for this. Please do it. Nobody can test me in that way. It’s going to look easy and people are going to be scratching their heads.”
“No one has tested you that way,” responded Jones. “You have not fought anything like me. You will see the difference between all these old, washed up fighters you’ve been beating. You have a sense of security beating Dan Henderson? A guy who’s almost 50 years old? Patrick Cummins, a guy who’s only 4-0? Josh Barnett at the end of his career? You have not tasted what I have to offer and you will see it. I cannot sit here and say you would dominate the competition that I have faced, the way I have faced them.”
See portions of the interview below:
5 MUST-READ STORIES
Pre-brawl. Jon Jones says he has something to prove to the MMA community when it comes to Alexander Gustafsson. ‘I wasn’t able to perform to my greatest ability [in their first fight], so I do owe Gustafsson a severe beating.’
Mauler. Alexander Gustafsson explains why he decided to withdraw from his title bout with Jon Jones. ‘For me to have a 10-12 week camp against Jones, I need to be 100 percent. I can’t go into that cage knowing that something is hurting. I need to be 100 percent. We decided that I needed to have that operation.’
Pay to fight. The Nevada State Athletic Commission may look to fine Chael Sonnen $250,000 per failed drug test if he competes Saturday at Metamoris 4.
Busy day. The UFC releases a statement regarding the Jones-Cormier brawl. ‘Their actions were clearly a violation of the UFC’s code of conduct. The Nevada State Athletic Commission has requested a video copy of the incident, and the UFC is cooperating fully with them in order to come to a quick resolution when it comes to possible penalties for both fighters.’
Pac-Man. Manny Pacquiao has purchased an ownership stake in ONE FC.
Check out The MMA Hour featuring Jon Jones, Alexander Gustafsson, Randy Couture and Paul Heyman in studio.
MEDIA STEW
If for some reason you haven’t seen the brawl, here you go. Includes the Poirer-McGregor staredown.
Jones and Cormier recap their brawl before appearing on ESPN together.
Conor McGregor has an obsession with movement.
Metamoris 4: Countdown (Kit Dale vs. Garry Tonon).
TUF’s Anthony Gutierrez speaking pretty openly about regularly smoking Marijuana.
Dave Sholler iso-cam.
Long watches.
Knuckle Up #406: Diaz-Silva, Diaz-White + the Pain of Knowing it All
TWEETS
Check out our Pros React piece for instant reaction from the Jones-DC brawl.
More from the brawl.
“@matthewgrossie: @JonnyBones just 2 let every1 no.Jones didnt take him down.3 people pulled him down from the back off stage” thank u!
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) August 4, 2014
There was only one loser at today’s UFC press conference… pic.twitter.com/XKlAjKUoKA
— Cathal Pendred (@PendredMMA) August 5, 2014
Have to admit that u guys are KILLIN me w/ internet memes, videos, comic book strips. Who’s doing @JRsBBQ video of me falling thru backdrop?
— Dave Sholler (@Sholler_UFC) August 4, 2014
Wasn’t me.
— Jon Anik (@Jon_Anik) August 4, 2014
@JonnyBones @dc_mma. “F$#% THE STAGE DO IT IN THE CAGE” like my main man @BurtWatson4real says! @SamSiciliaMMA
— Julianna Peña (@VenezuelanVixen) August 4, 2014
Alright guys…. @sholler_ufc is in one piece. Crazy days at the @UFC office! https://t.co/H38HE2wBKb
— Shanda (@UFC_Shanda) August 4, 2014
Those other guys.
I enjoy fighting.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) August 4, 2014
I also enjoy selfies. pic.twitter.com/nkgazByEJf
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) August 4, 2014
Talk is cheap. Get your tickets because September 27th I walk the walk.
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) August 4, 2014
Get well soon.
Thank you everyone for the wishes! I hope that leads up for you guys… #TeamKilla to be continued
— Abel Trujillo (@AbelTrujillo1) August 4, 2014
TUF uniforms are interesting…
Went hard today with the team. 5 rounds rolling & 5 rounds sparring!!! #tuf20 #teampettis http://t.co/XYTv53Jral
— Anthony Pettis (@Showtimepettis) August 4, 2014
Sounds good.
Congrats.
Made eye contact with Beyonce last night then she showed me her butt! GF was very understanding about it:) pic.twitter.com/Ewh7H0aFuu
— Joseph Benavidez (@JoeJitsu) August 4, 2014
I couldn’t wait to show this picture with #CroCop and of course the twitter moment gets ruined. Thanks a lot guys… pic.twitter.com/7n6Sq7puZi
— Stipe Miocic (@smiocic) August 4, 2014
Yeesh.
Found this in my phone lol. One of the many great job offers @RowdyBec recieves lol #gentlemanstyle pic.twitter.com/uwC3jXbexr
— Ben ‘Manimal’ Wall (@BenWallMMA) August 5, 2014
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announced yesterday (Aug. 4 2014)
Abel Trujillo out, Gray Maynard vs. Ross Pearson at UFC Fight Night: Bader vs. Saint Preux
FANPOST OF THE DAY
Today’s Fanpost of the Day comes via Graham Douglas.
Let’s giggle about Jones vs. Cormier – Media Day. What’s your take on it?
First piece of advice, watch this at least twice. Heck three or four times might not be enough. There are enough nuggets in there to really enjoy. The tweets afterwards make the whole event even funnier.
Part 1: The Winner
Clearly Jones takes this. It wasn’t even close. So will that effect the fight in the octagon? Perhaps. Let’s just say somebody was eating knuckles and it wasn’t Jones.
Part 2: Dana’s Vacation
I feel bad for Dana. His tweet was from Bora Bora. Apparently his first vacation in like, forever. Let’s all have a moment to chuckle about the timing. Heck when you run a restaurant and try to get some alone time, all hell generally breaks loose.
Part 3: Who’s at Fault
Clearly Cormier. We’ve seen many staredowns which go head to head. There really aren’t violent shoves, if ever. Cooler heads (no pun intended) generally prevail. Cormier might not have likes the contact, but it does happen often and people don’t spaz and shove as a result. In fact Cormier shoved Jones in the face which is worse than a shove to the chest.
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Check out the rest of the post here.
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