UFC light heavyweight champion of the world Daniel Cormier says that a fight with Jon Jones will always headline unless the event involves Conor McGregor.
Should Cormier get past the challenge of Anthony “Rumble” Johnson at UFC 210 next month, and Jon Jones can fly straight, a rematch between both men is as close to a certainty as you can get in MMA.
Jones’ one-year USADA suspension is due to end in July, and the stature of the former champion of the division plus the weakness of the division spells an instant title shot for “Bones”. UFC President Dana White, of all people, has said as much.
Cormier and Jones share one of the most genuine and bitter of rivalries in the UFC. As such, “DC” will be more than happy to grant Jones a title shot, should he first get past “Rumble”:
“Sure, whatever, I’d like to fight Jon Jones. That’s what I’ve been trying to do since 2015,” Cormier explained recently on The MMA Hour. “It’s been years, that’s all I’ve been wanting to do is get another opportunity to fight him. So yeah, sure, if you want to give him a title shot, go ahead. That’s fine. I think that, as long as that man has his affairs in order, he’ll be good to go.
“It’s just very hard — it’s just scary, at the end of the day. All that stuff is scary, as I’m pretty sure it’s scary to ‘Rumble’ to schedule to fight me because of the injuries. So for me, it’s just a little bit scary. Jon and I have been scheduled to fight like four times, and we’ve only fought once.”
Following their failed fight debacle at UFC 200, Dana White was insistent that he “would never take the risk of headlining a show with Jon Jones again.” While such words may have been motivated by anger and frustration, Cormier sees a way for a potential big-time rematch with Jones working as a co-main event:
“We’d all have to all have some discussions,” Cormier said. “I’m not going to fight Jones just on some card. It would have to be a certain type of card if we were going to take a co-main event type of role. But therein lies another issue. I’ll put it out there: Jon and I will not fight in the co-main event to anyone but Conor McGregor. Right? That’s the only way that makes sense, right? So there’s the problem. Now you have a whole bunch of guys who make a whole bunch of money on one fight card. So it’s like, what’re you going to do?”
Cormier meets Anthony “Rumble” Johnson in the headline fight at UFC 210 on April 7, in Buffalo, New York.
