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Daniel Cormier Nearly Walks Out of Podcast After Host Dubs Jon Jones ‘The Michael Jordan of MMA’

Daniel Cormier Nearly Walks Out of Podcast After Host Dubs Jon Jones 'the Michael Jordan of MMA' Daniel Cormier nearly walked out on Kamaru Usman’s Pound 4 Pound podcast after the former welterweight world champion likened…

Daniel Cormier nearly walked out on Kamaru Usman’s Pound 4 Pound podcast after the former welterweight world champion likened Jon Jones to NBA legend Michael Jordan.

It’s no secret that ‘DC’ has a deep hatred for Jones. Their rivalry dates back almost a decade when the Hall of Famers first squared off at UFC 182 for the light heavyweight championship. ‘Bones’ won the bout via unanimous decision, but their iconic rivalry prompted the promotion to book a rematch between the two at UFC 214.

This time around, Jones finished Cormier in the third round, but the result was later overturned after Jones was found to have tested positive for a banned substance.

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Regularly citing Jones’ multiple banned substance violations and his slew of run-ins with the law, Cormier has regularly lobbied against the notion that ‘Bones’ is the undisputed GOAT of mixed martial arts.

So it should come as no surprise that ‘DC’ was ready to get up and walk out on Kamaru Usman after ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ suggested that Jon Jones is the Michael Jordan of MMA.

Daniel Cormier throws a fit over Jon Jones/Michael Jordan comparison

It all began as Usman started to sing the praises of Jones and likened him to Conor McGregor in that he, like the Irishman, has gotten to a point in his career where he can handpick his opponents. Cormier quickly chimed in, saying:

“I thought you were gonna say Michael Jordan or some crazy sh*t like that. If you would’ve said that I was leaving,”

Things got a little heated between the two when Usman doubled down, suggesting that Jones is an MMA version of the six-time NBA champion.

“To be honest, Jon is in a sense the Michael Jordan that we’ve seen in MMA,” Usman stated.

That pissed Cormier off something terrible. So much so that ‘DC’ threatened to get up and walk out of the interview altogether.

“No he isn’t,” Cormier replied matter-of-factly. “I’m about to leave, are you done with the interview? Do you just wanna be done? So you’re telling me Jon Jones is the Michael Jordan and Lebron James of MMA? You’re gonna sit up here in real life on five cameras (and say that)?”

Jon Jones is scheduled to return to the Octagon on November 16 when the promotion heads back to the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, for UFC 309. There, ‘Bones’ will put his undisputed heavyweight championship on the line against two-time titleholder Stipe Miocic.

In all likelihood, Daniel Cormier will be on the call that night and get a cageside seat for Jones’ first heavyweight title defense.

Kamaru Usman Narrates Never-Before-Told High School Meeting With Daniel Cormier That Inspired His Career

In 2012, Kamaru Usman made his pro debut in MMA in what would be the start of an incredibly successful career. Like many martial artists that grew up in the United States, he came to the sport via a wrestling background – but there weren’t many role models for him to look up to. Having […]

Continue Reading Kamaru Usman Narrates Never-Before-Told High School Meeting With Daniel Cormier That Inspired His Career at MMA News.

In 2012, Kamaru Usman made his pro debut in MMA in what would be the start of an incredibly successful career.

Like many martial artists that grew up in the United States, he came to the sport via a wrestling background – but there weren’t many role models for him to look up to.

Having been born in Nigeria, Kamaru and his family moved to Dallas, Texas when he was just eight years old, which was a culture shock for him at the time.

Usman eventually found the path that would lead him to become a UFC champion, thanks to some peers who inspired him.

Kamaru Usman Details Daniel Cormier Meeting That Gave Him Something To Strive For

On a recent episode of the Pound 4 Pound podcast, Usman and Henry Cejudo were joined by former UFC champ-champ Daniel Cormier.

Being eight years older, Cormier was someone that Usman looked up to when he first encountered him via wrestling.

“DC” and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal weren’t just incredibly impressive wrestlers that inspired “The Nigerian Nightmare”, they were people that he could relate to.

Usman told the story about the first time that he met Cormier in person, having seen him compete in wrestling, and how that impacted his own life and career trajectory.

“We saw you guys [Cormier and Lawal] trying to sneak in, trying to get in to train, to practice while there was a break, so we ran up and we was like, ‘Yo, King Mo!’… you didn’t give me no damn hug. I would tell you this though, you did dap us up and you were just like, talked a little to us for a little bit, asked us what, and then my friend was like, ‘Yo I know what you did, I saw what you did at real pro wrestling.’ And I remember you going, ‘What you see?’

“And you just joked with us and it was just that little moment, that little interaction that was so meaningful. We was like, ‘Oh my god, there’s these guys that look like us, they deal with similar circumstances that we have to deal with in this sport, and they’re at that level. Oh we can get there’. And I can’t tell you what that did for me.”

Continue Reading Kamaru Usman Narrates Never-Before-Told High School Meeting With Daniel Cormier That Inspired His Career at MMA News.

Former Opponent Feels LHW Jon Jones Would Fight Tom Aspinall Better Than Heavyweight

After vacating his UFC light heavyweight title, Jon Jones was inactive for three years until he finally came back as a heavyweight. He captured the heavyweight belt by submitting Ciryl Gane at UFC 285, but after suffering a significant injury, the champion has been gone for another long stretch of time. During that time, there […]

Continue Reading Former Opponent Feels LHW Jon Jones Would Fight Tom Aspinall Better Than Heavyweight at MMA News.

After vacating his UFC light heavyweight title, Jon Jones was inactive for three years until he finally came back as a heavyweight.

He captured the heavyweight belt by submitting Ciryl Gane at UFC 285, but after suffering a significant injury, the champion has been gone for another long stretch of time.

During that time, there has been a lot of talk about fans wanting him to fight the interim champion Tom Aspinall, who many believe is the present and future of the weight class.

It looks far more likely that Jones will retire without facing Aspinall, after he meets Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 309 in November.

Daniel Cormier Says Jon Jones Would Fight Better Against Tom Aspinall If He Weighed Less

During his appearance on the Pound 4 Pound podcast, Daniel Cormier spoke about how Jones matches up with Aspinall.

Having faced “Bones” on two occasions, “DC” said that he thinks whilst Jones’ experience is an advantage, he’s been through a lot of gruelling fights during his career.

Cormier also said that another factor that makes him seriously consider whether Aspinall could be the first guy to beat the UFC heavyweight champion is the fact that Jones isn’t naturally suited to that weight class.

He spent a lot of time building himself up to that frame but as a result, will sacrifice the speed that he had at light heavyweight.

That makes Cormier believe that the heavyweight champ would fair better against a big, powerful and fast knockout artist like Aspinall if he was fighting at a smaller weight.

“All those guys that fought him [Jones] close, that takes its toll. I think that this kid [Aspinall] is as dangerous for him as anyone he’s ever been in there with. Partly because that’s not his weight class. If he’s at 205, I bet if he’s weighing 215 [pounds], he would fight Tom Aspinall better than him weighing 245-pounds. 220 in his 205 frame, he could fight Tom Aspinall better then he’d fight him at 250 because while he didn’t last long with Ciryl, he didn’t look as fast.”

Continue Reading Former Opponent Feels LHW Jon Jones Would Fight Tom Aspinall Better Than Heavyweight at MMA News.

Daniel Cormier Recalls Hilarious Story Of Trying To Sell Fake Drugs & Getting Caught

A lot of athletes who make their way into combat sports come from rough backgrounds, and Daniel Cormier was no different. Through the success that he has achieved in his career through determination and commitment, his children won’t have to battle the same struggles that he faced. In that same vein, “DC” is sure to […]

Continue Reading Daniel Cormier Recalls Hilarious Story Of Trying To Sell Fake Drugs & Getting Caught at MMA News.

A lot of athletes who make their way into combat sports come from rough backgrounds, and Daniel Cormier was no different.

Through the success that he has achieved in his career through determination and commitment, his children won’t have to battle the same struggles that he faced.

In that same vein, “DC” is sure to be an inspiration to other athletes and young people who are working hard to try and provide a better life for their families.

During a recent podcast appearance on Pound 4 Pound, he told a story about how the trappings of his surroundings nearly got to him.

Daniel Cormier On Being Chased For Selling Fake Drugs & Correcting His Path

After Kamaru Usman spoke about how Cormier was an inspiration to him in his life that helped him to follow the right path, “DC” spoke about how he nearly took a wrong turn in his.

The former UFC champ-champ said that selling drugs was so prominent where he grew up, that it was difficult to avoid making the same mistakes as the people around him.

However, a hilarious experience on his first attempt was enough to steer Cormier away from making a potentially life-changing decision.

“It’s not easy to have the strength to not fall into the trap. There’s a trap. When you ain’t got no money and everybody else is selling dope, you want to sell dope to make some money. I tried that s*** one time, it was not good. Bro, I swear to god, it was the worst. I was the worst drug dealer of all time. Bro I was 16-years-old, we made fake drugs, it’s bad!

“I give it to the guy, he realized it was fake. He start chasing me, he caught me, he was fast. I gave him the money back, I was like, ‘It’s a bad product man, here you go.’ Last time I ever tried that. I was so scared though. I was so scared that this dude was going to hurt me ‘cuz I was a kid. I was a state champion wrestler, I’m like, what am I doing here? But I fell into the trap.”

Continue Reading Daniel Cormier Recalls Hilarious Story Of Trying To Sell Fake Drugs & Getting Caught at MMA News.

The ‘Bad Guy’ Wants to See Islam Makhachev Make a Classic WWE-Style Heel Turn

Chael Sonnen wants to see Islam Makhachev embrace his natural role as a heel. During a recent episode of…

Chael Sonnen wants to see Islam Makhachev embrace his natural role as a heel.

During a recent episode of his ESPN show Good Guy/Bad Guy with former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier, ‘The American Gangster’ spoke about the promotion’s recent struggles in finding the next big breakout star, much of it being blamed on the lack of lengthy title reigns by today’s talent.

Makhachev finds himself in a similar boat, having just completed his third defense of the lightweight title in June via a fifth-round submission victory over Dustin Poirier at UFC 302. Before that, the ‘Dagestani Destroyer’ won back-to-back bouts against former featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski.

Touting Jon Jones and Alex Pereira as the two biggest names in the game right now, Sonnen believes Makhachev could unseat them both and take his spot as the promotion’s top draw by making a classic WWE-style heel turn.

“Okay, that guy is so charismatic, and he is so secretly funny,” Sonnen said. “If he was to do a heel turn, I mean, come on, he said one of the great heel lines ever. He said a whole bunch of professors should be taking their black belts back from guys. Like that angle and that is blasphemy in this sport and nobody even knows got it. It was like this G-rated line, he didn’t use profanity, he didn’t yell. When he said it, he said it nicely” (h/t MMA News).

Sonnen certainly knows a thing or two about using his ability to talk as a way to sell himself. Going into his Hall of Fame clash with Anderson Silva at UFC 117, the West Linn, Oregon native drew in fight fans with his impeccable promo skills that saw him trash talk ‘The Spider’ in a way that no fighter had done before.

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Daniel Cormier wants to write material for Islam makhachev

Offering his take on the subject, Cormier appeared to agree with Sonnen, even suggesting that the two start writing material for Makhachev to help him go from a mild-mannered Dagestani scrapper to a Ric Flair-esque larger-than-life character on MMA’s biggest stage.

“I think that’s the move for Islam,” Cormier concurred. “He needs to get you and I to write him promos. We should write him promos. We write promos telling how much better he is than everyone. I would make him tell everybody that they don’t deserve to be in there with him and he’s just going to lord over this division until he decides to retire.”

Originally hoping to defend his title in Abu Dhabi this fall, Makhachev will be forced to sit out the remainder of the year due to an injury. When he is ready for a return, top-ranked contender Arman Tsarukyan will likely be the one waiting for him inside the Octagon.

UFC Hall of Famer Believes the Promotion’s Lack of Star Power is Due to Shorter Championship Reigns

Lengthy UFC title reigns seem to be a thing of the past. It doesn’t feel like it was that…

Lengthy UFC title reigns seem to be a thing of the past.

It doesn’t feel like it was that long ago that we all sat in front of our TVs on Saturday nights and marveled at the dominance of UFC champions like Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, and Demetrious Johnson, all of whom carried their respective titles for a combined 6,663 days.

Other fighters such as Jose Aldo and Jon Jones have had undeniably impressive title runs with ‘Junior’ defending the featherweight title seven times and ‘Bones’ notching 11 total defenses across two different reigns as the UFC light heavyweight champion.

With championship reigns seemingly getting shorter and shorter, Cormier believes that could offer an explanation as to why the UFC is sorely lacking star power these days. ‘DC’ also offered his take on how many defenses a fighter needs in this day in age before reaching that coveted Hall of Fame status.

“I think the reason we don’t have that star, is it’s hard to be a long-reigning champion,” Cormier said on a recent episode of Good Guy/Bad Guy with Chael Sonnen. “That’s the problem. The game has gotten so hard now, that Anderson [Silva] had what, 11 title defenses? Jon Jones had 13? Who is doing that anymore? We talked bout Sean O’Malley as if he had a great title reign, but he defended the belt one time. Imagine if he did it seven times…

“A long title reign is very difficult. It’s what’s needed to become a real draw. You cannot just be a flash-in-the-pan champion. Unfortunately, [Israel Adesanya] was a draw because he held that belt for a long time, but since he lost the belt, the number isn’t as great…the reigns aren’t as long [now]. I was talking to some of the guys on the weigh-in show… what would you consider a great championship reign today? For me right now, I think defending that belt three times. Winning the title, defending it three times, I think it gets you in the Hall of Fame because it’s so hard to hold on to the belt today” (h/t BJPenn.com).

Valentina Shevchenko, Kamaru Usman, and Amanda Nunes have the most dominant UFC title reigns in recent years

Nowadays, a reign like the ones that Silva, GSP, and ‘Mighty Mouse’ had just don’t seem to exist. The closest we’ve gotten to it thus far has been Valentina Shevchenko who defended the women’s flyweight title seven times before surrendering the belt to Alexa Grasso in March 2023.

Since then, ‘Bullet’ has regained the title and will look to resume her dominance over the division in 2025.

The next closest thing to her impressive run was Kamaru Usman’s successful defense of the welterweight title five times in less than two years, though four of those five fights came against Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal.

Israel Adesanya and Amanda Nunes also defended their middleweight and bantamweight titles five times apiece.

‘The Last Stylebender’ ultimately surrendered his belt to Alex Pereira in late 2022 before taking it back five months later while Nunes opted to lay down her gold and retire last year following a dominant performance against Irene Aldana at UFC 289.