Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones aren’t friends, but “DC” isn’t downplaying his rival’s accolades.
Cormier will defend his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight title against Anthony Johnson for a second time on April 8. The bout will take place inside the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY.
Many fans and analysts are expecting the winner to defend his title against Jones later this year, possibly in the summer. “Bones” will be eligible to compete in July after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) eased up on his punishment for a violation of their anti-doping policy.
Despite the issues that have lingered with Jones, Cormier told MMAJunkie.com that he deserves a title shot when he returns to action:
“For a guy who’s been as dominant as he was, obviously his resume says that he always should get a title fight. I’m a straight shooter. I’m not going to sit here and try to downplay the guy’s accomplishments. I know who he is, I know who he was, so he should always be around a title fight. I won’t downplay his accomplishments and say he’s not worthy. But we’ll see. I always want to fight him. I told you guys time and time again: If they would have let me fight him again, I would have fought him in two days even after he tested positive for steroids. I would have still fought him. I asked to sign a waiver to fight him even though his test came back dirty. So yeah, I’d love to fight him, of course.”
