UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and arch-nemesis (and former champion) Jon Jones share one of the most genuine rivalries in MMA.
Despite “DC” being fully focused on the upcoming challenge of #1 contender Anthony “Rumble” Johnson in at UFC 210 this coming Saturday, the 39-year-old still found some space to accomodate the issue of Jones.
Both Cormier and Johnson appeared on an episode of the 5ive Rounds podcast this week with the purpose of promoting their upcoming clash this weekend. When Jones’ name did come up, Cormier could not withold his frustration. Following Johnson’s response to a question regarding Jones’ return to the UFC [Jones will] “always be around, regardless of what happened”, the champion had a much different perspective:
“You kind of expect it, but there’s only one problem with Anthony’s answer,” said Cormier. “I think we’ve got to stop saying, ‘Regardless of what happened.’ We know what happened. We know exactly what he did. So when we say stuff like, ‘Regardless of what happened,’ or we don’t state the facts, it’s almost like we’re sweeping it under the rug. We know what he did. We know the bad things that he did. We know that he tried to cheat. We know all this stuff. So I get annoyed because I’m like, ‘Why are you asking me about a guy that, three days before we were supposed to fight, pissed hot?’ That’s the stuff that annoys me, not the fact that he’s a good fighter. He’s a great fighter.”
Jones is just over three months away from the serving of a one-year suspension imposed by USADA due to flagging positive for estrogen blockers prior to his fight with Cormier at UFC 200. Jones’ defense (that he had taken a contaminated sexual performance pill) was accepted, but his dilligence was judged to have “verged on reckless,” and the former champ was subsequently slapped with the maximum punsihment in the circumstances.
“He got that year [suspension] from USADA, right? He got a year suspension and there’s this misconception that USADA believed his excuse. They did not believe his excuse. They gave him the max amount of time that they could for what he did! The defense that he had didn’t prove anything. USADA gave him the max suspension that they could give him so, to me, he’s a cheater. They didn’t buy that whole — what was it, a fertility pill, or a sex pill? They didn’t buy it because if they bought the explanation, they would not have given him the max amount of time that they could have.”
Long considered to be one of teh greatest mixed martial artists in the history of the sport, Jones’ career has had its fair share of controversy and negativity. Having been suspended indefinitely by the UFC following a hit-and-run encounter with a pregnant woman prior to the failed USADA test, Cormier insists that he is not willing to simply ignore the troubled fighter’s unfortunate past:
“You cheated,” he said. “You also smashed into somebody’s car and ran away. I know what you did. If everybody else wants to ignore it, they can. I’m not.”