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“When it comes to Jones, I know now with all that I’ve accomplished, I don’t need that fight.”
Despite never toppling pound-for-pound phenom Jon Jones, reigning UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier thinks he has done more than enough to cement his legacy as one of, if not the, greatest fighters of all time.
After coming up short against Jones in two separate title bouts at light heavyweight, there’s more demand than ever to see both men duke it out for the heavyweight title in what would undoubtedly be one of the biggest fights in UFC history.
But, the way Cormier sees it, he has nothing left to prove against his longtime rival and is not too enthusiastic about the matchup.
“When it comes to Jones, I know now with all that I’ve accomplished, I don’t need that fight,” Cormier told MMA Fighting in a recent interview. “I’ll be fine regardless but it will be something we revisit, me and my team, my management and everybody else and we’ll see if it’s something we want to do. Ultimately it will be my decision.
“Things are different. I feel like Jones is competing so many times because he has to try and one, regain the faith of the fans, but also retake his place in the sport and I did that. My place is secure with no question marks, no issues in regards in what I’ve done. It would ultimately be up to me to see what I want to do.”
Cormier went on to state that, at this late stage of his career, a win over ‘Bones’ wouldn’t do much for his legacy.
“I think at this point in my career and my life, if you ask me these questions three years ago in 2015 after I lost to him the first time, I’d get all kinds of fired up about everything Jon Jones. Now I’m at a different time in my life,” Cormier said. “Maybe I’ve lost faith in the honor of the sport because I feel that if we fight again, at the end of it win or lose, something extra will always be tied to it and I’m not talking about past interactions.
“I’m talking even after this next one, something will happen and it will just ruin it. Even after our last fight, I was ready to move on. Like OK, you got me and look what happened. I guess I just lost faith in everything.”
Although a third superfight with Jones remains a possibility, ‘DC’ is currently focused on defending his heavyweight title against former champ Stipe Miocic, who he meets in the UFC 241 main event on August 17 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
“Right now I’m so focused on Stipe Miocic because here’s the deal. At 205 [pounds], I’m not fighting guys like Volkan Oezdemir anymore, no disrespect to Volkan or Anthony Smith or Thiago Santos. I’m fighting the greatest heavyweight of all time,” Cormier said. “I think I need to be solely focused on that right now.”