The wait is finally over, Jon Jones is now officially back at the UFC as the highest-paid heavyweight ever! Naturally, the former light-heavyweight has been appearing in different interviews talking about his life and return inside the Octagon. In one such conversation, he also talked about his long-time rival and nemesis Daniel Cormier.
While speaking to Sports Illustrated, the 35-year-old was asked about DC to which he replied, “I’m not competing against Daniel Cormier. I’ve already beaten him twice (sic). I’m really happy for Daniel Cormier. I love what he’s done in his life with his wrestling and broadcasting.”
He went on to say, “I think it’s awesome when a fighter can retire and use his voice and intelligence to do something that he loves, so I’ve got nothing but respect for Daniel Cormier.”
Is the beef between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier actually over?
The story of Jon and Cormier goes way back. DC was on a 12-fight win streak before he took on Jones. The reigning champion was on an undefeated run himself. Both fighters already didn’t like each other leading up to the fight and knew that one of them would lose their undefeated status. The fight went all 5 rounds until ‘Bones’ received the win via unanimous decision.
Later, Jon was caught and suspended for illegal drug usage and stripped off his second bout against Cormier. The two athletes would cross paths yet again but Jones again managed to pick up the victory. This time around a very sad Daniel himself cut the chances of a future matchup saying a rivalry couldn’t exist if one fighter lost two bouts in a row.
After that bout, the two would sometimes get into Twitter back and forth but no physical confrontation was recorded. After Jon decided to return many started talking about a third fight but the 35-year-old himself talked the possibility down. DC has spoken favorably about his rival on his own YouTube channel from time to time.
We too hope the bad blood gets squashed between the UFC stars.
