“You know Daniel Cormier, obviously, he’s having a lot of mental struggles when it comes to me,” Jones said of his biggest rival.
The war wages on between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier. The two light heavyweights have ping-ponged back-and-forth ever since their bout at UFC 182 was announced in 2014.
“Bones” went on to defeat “DC” via unanimous decision in a competitive but relatively one-sided affair. Since then, however, things took a turn for the worse. The pound-for-pound great was involved in a hit-and-run incident last year and was stripped of the 205-pound title and sentenced to 18 months probation by an Albuquerque judge.
In his absence, Cormier picked up the vacant belt when he submitted Anthony Johnson at UFC 187 and went on to solidify his championship ranking with a grueling win over Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 192.
Both men were expected to settle their differences at the upcoming UFC 197 pay-per-view, but Cormier was forced to withdraw from the bout after suffering a leg injury. Jones will now face Ovince Saint Preux for the interim title and believes Cormier’s withdrawal is a sign of weakness.
The former LHW champion spoke to FOX Sports on Friday and discussed a potential rematch at the Madison Square Garden Arena for UFC 205 in New York.
“I would be honored to main event against Daniel Cormier at Madison Square Garden, Jones said. “The question is will Daniel Cormier accept that fight? You know Daniel Cormier, obviously, he’s having a lot of mental struggles when it comes to me.
“That’s just one more thing that he doesn’t need. I’m sure he doesn’t want to fight me in my backyard because he needs all the mental breaks he can get.”
While Cormier has also volleyed his share of insults at Jones, the American Kickboxing Acadamy standout recently sided with his rival on the drag racing arrest.
Jones, who is an overwhelming favorite over Ovince Saint Preux, is expected to beat the Tennessee-based fighter and rematch Cormier at a mega-event in the future, perhaps at MSG or UFC 200 on July 9th.