Daniel Cormier will forever be tied to Jon Jones, as their rivalry has reached heights that no other has even come close to, Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz included. Sure, “Bones” has two wins over “DC,” but his latest win at UFC 214 was overturned to a no contest after Jon failed a drug test.
And it’s haunting him to this day.
Aside from his two losses to Jones, Cormier has accomplished so much in the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) that he’s okay with walking away later this year if need be. Winning the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight title last year to become the promotion’s second-ever “champ-champ,” Cormier has shown time and again that he is much more than Jon’s biggest rival, and he has the resume to prove it.
That said, the ex-Light Heavyweight champion of the world says completing the trilogy may be necessary if “Bones” ever wants to get back everything he lost due to his multiple failed drug tests that have somewhat tarnished his legacy and reputation.
“For what I’ve done, winning the heavyweight title, everything was so tied to him (Jones) initially that me getting the heavyweight title was something so completely separate, especially being that I was undefeated in the weight class prior,” Cormier said in an interview with UFC.com.
“Going up into a weight that was always thought to be my weight class, winning the UFC title, it helped me. I think for Jones to truly get back everything that he’s lost, it would be good for him and I to fight again. For me, I’ve established my career outside of him. He’s done things outside of me, too, but for him, it would be good if he got to fight me again,” he added.
Jones came back from after a year and a half way from action to reclaim the 205-pound title at UFC 232 by knocking out Alexander Gustafsson in the third round last December (see it). Still, it wasn’t good enough to overtake Cormier in the pound-for-pound rankings, which didn’t sit to well with him.
But according to Daniel, Jones has no reason to gripe, as he has yet to prove he can move up in weight and be successful there.
“It feels great,” Cormier says of being above Jones in the rankings. “Even when they keep releasing the pound-for-pound rankings and I’m ranked above him and he goes, ‘That’s BS,’ absolutely not. You are a great fighter, but you’re a great fighter at the weight class you’ve always stayed at. I’ve done it in multiple weight classes and pound-for-pound says it’s a fighting style that translates across weight classes, and I’ve been the champion in two of them. So I think I am the definition of pound-for-pound,” he concluded.
Cormier is currently on the sidelines healing his body while waiting for his next fight. One that could see him face off against either Brock Lesnar or Stipe Miocic for the 265-pound strap. As for Jones, he is on deck to defend his 205-pound championship against Anthony Smith at UFC 235 on March 2 in Las Vegas.
Should both men take care of business, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility to have Jones and Cormier face off one final time on the heels of “DC’s” latest comments. And we know Jones wouldn’t mind running it back.
At the end of the day, it simply makes sense dollars and cents.