Once more rekindling his rivalry with two-fight rival, Jon Jones, former two-weight champion, Daniel Cormier has labelled the Rochester native a “magician in manipulation” – after his light heavyweight title reign was called into question.
Cormier, a former undisputed light heavyweight and heavyweight titleholder, shared a two-fight rivalry with arch-nemesis, Jones over the course of their Octagon tenures, fighting to a decision loss, before a high-kick KO loss was overturned to an official ‘No Contest’ in their 2017 rematch.
Hitting out at the Lafayette veteran’s title “run” during his time away from the sport amid multiple high-profile issues with anti-doping discretions, Jones called into question the legitimacy of Cormier’s championship reigns.
“UFC is a brilliant company, did what they had to do to save the event,” Jon Jones posted on his official X account in reply to a user. “But I do agree with you, it definitely confused a bunch of UK fans, got them entitled thinking their boy really is the champion. It reminds me of when ‘DC’ was the “champion” during my absence.”
Reacting to Jones’ comments on his title reign at 205lbs, Cormier labelled the former pound-for-pound number one a “magician in manipulation”.
Daniel Cormier hits back at long-time foe, Jon Jones
“It’s not the same, although it may seem the same,” Daniel Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “He (Jon Jones) was incapable of competing when I was the champion. He wasn’t allowed to compete, not due to injury, due to illegal substances found in his body, that’s just the truth… that’s my response. Jones – it wasn’t the same thing, bud. So, no matter how quickly you are – and the magician you are at manipulating and saying this and the other, that’s not the case.”
“It was different, you couldn’t compete whenever I was fighting,” Daniel Cormier explained. “I was the champion, for a really long time actually, which is kind of crazy.”
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