Earlier today, UFC legend Tito Ortiz made some incredibly bold claims about fellow great Jon Jones.
In a recent interview, Ortiz claimed that he could do better in a fight against ‘Bones’ than current UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. He even thinks he could hand Jones a defeat with an 18-week camp.
Jones and Cormier have an infamous, hate-fueled rivalry dating back to 2014. Jones has defeated Cormier twice – once by decision in 2015 and once by brutal knockout in 2017. The second win was overturned due to a failed drug test, however.
But those are the only two losses of Cormier’s all-time great career. He currently rates as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport according to the UFC rankings. Cormier will rematch Stipe Miocic in the main event of August’s UFC 241 from Anaheim. In the meantime, he responded to Ortiz’ laughable claim with a short-but-sweet barb on Twitter. Check it out:
It’s not much of a surprise to see the vast majority of MMA social media agree with Cormier. He may be 40 years old and in the twilight of his legendary career, yet Ortiz is 44 years old himself. Cormier submitted Derrick Lewis in his last fight at UFC 230. By comparison, Ortiz knocked out Chuck Liddell’s ghost in the one-off Golden Boy MMA show last November.
To top it off, ‘DC’ is headed for another match-up with a man many feel is the greatest heavyweight of all-time in Miocic. Ortiz, meanwhile, will face Alberto del Rio in Combate Americas this fall. While del Rio actually has a solid enough MMA record, he hasn’t fought since 2010.
Cormier likes to say there are ‘levels’ to this fight game. This may be an instance where it has never applied so accurately.
Are you taking Ortiz’ bold statement with any degree of seriousness?
