The hatchet bas been buried … right into the back of Jon Jones.
Former UFC two-division champion, Daniel Cormier, will never be friends with longtime rival Jon Jones. In addition, “DC” doesn’t want “Bones” to be compared to anyone other than Ted Bundy, simply because his Octagon legacy doesn’t stack up against all-time greats like basketball legend Michael Jordan.
From his conversation with Kamaru Usman on Pound 4 Pound:
Usman: “To be honest, Jon is — in a sense — the Michael Jordan that we’ve seen in MMA.”
Cormier: “No, he isn’t. I’m about to leave. You done with the interview? Do you just wanna be done?”
Usman: “DC, right now, really, you’re gonna tell me, going through everything that he has gone through, he’s not at that level? Obviously we’re not talking about the outside [issues]. But as far as in the sport, Jon is at that level.”
Cormier: “So you’re telling me that Jon Jones is the Michael Jordan and LeBron James of MMA? You’re gonna sit up here in real life in front of five cameras?”
Usman: “But let me finish what I’m saying! He’s not far from it.”
Cormier: “Michael Jordan got done playing basketball in 1996 and people still don’t want to say somebody’s better. There will be a person that comes along that people will say replaces Jon Jones as the greatest of all time. He has not left such a legacy that it feels like it’s never gonna be toppled. Jordan left a legacy that is so strong, that we have seen LeBron James do what he does, we have seen Kobe [Bryant] do what he does, we’ve seen these great players and [people are] still unwilling to say they’re better [than Jordan].”
Usman: “Okay, I agree with that.”
Cormier lost a five-round decision to Jones at UFC 182 back in early 2015, then got stopped by “Bones” in their UFC 214 rematch. The loss was later changed to a “No Contest” after Jones popped for steroids, one of many drug-testing snafus that cast a long shadow over his hall-of-fame career.
Jones returns to defend his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November.