UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones talks about the beauty of MMA and why it causes grown men to cry.
The Jon Jones/Daniel Cormier rivalry was filled with intense emotions. It was one of the most raw, bitter and brutally honest feuds that the sport has ever seen.
The rivalry likely came to an end after Jones finished Cormier inside of three rounds in their rematch at UFC 214. A crying, and likely concussed, Daniel Cormier took to the mic to say that because Jones won both fights, there was no more rivalry.
On Sway in the Morning, Jones talked about Cormier crying after the fight. He says that MMA is one of few sports that brings out that type of emotion in an athlete.
“It was tough to watch him cry because he’s such a good ambassador of our sport. I feel like one-on-one sports like MMA and boxing, these are sports where you see grown men cry,” Jones told Sway [Full Interview].
“Your success is all on your shoulders, where on a basketball team or football team you can blame it on the other people on the court or field with you… with MMA, it’s all you out there. It’s just such a personal thing when you’re defeated. Your legacy and everything. They’re not talking about your team, they’re talking about you forever. The way men get attached to this sport, it’s this beautiful thing. It’s why he cried. It just shows how much this s—t means to him.”
Earlier this week, Jones said that there was a strong possibility of a third fight against Cormier, and that it would probably come around in a year or two. In his interview with Sway, Jones expressed hope in both him and Cormier coming together and mending fences.
“I’d like to be cool with him, especially being a young black man, there’s not too many black men in the sport. So I think it’s sad when we’re at each other’s throats. If anything we should be rallying around each other, supporting each other and lifting each other up. I would like to eventually get to a place where we can support each other, do charity events together, do an interview together to talk about our beef… I think people would like to see us try to mend things and be one.”
Cormier has remained out of the spotlight following his first KO loss. He released a statement on Instagram days after the fight, congratulating Jones and his team on the victory.