“I can’t let it go man…, it’s not possible for me to forget that phase” – Daniel Cormier discusses why his defeats to Jon Jones still bother him

Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier is easily one of the hottest and most intense rivalries in recent MMA history.

 

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A post shared by Daniel “DC” Cormier (@dc_mma)

So much so that things got personal between the two elite fighters (Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier) . But if you ask “Bones” today, that’s all part of the past. However, “DC” is not ready to let things go just yet. In his recent guest appearance on the Pivot Podcast, he explained why.

I know you probably won’t believe me but at the end of the day I think of DC the same way I think of all my other past opponents. Was just a past opponent. Once we get the knuckle sandwiches out of the way, there’s really nothing to be mad about anymore https://t.co/pTG7yzu6r2

— BONY (@JonnyBones) July 3, 2022

The Pivot Podcast

“What makes him (angry)? He was the dishonest party. The evil deeds were committed by him. I’m not. He can therefore remark, “Oh, we’re over it,” with ease. He won fights via cheating, according to Cormier.

“Even though they say it’s a No Contest, (everyone) saw me lose. All he gets is time. Jon Jones was already making $5 million (per fight) back then.

“So Jon Jones is going to fight me in Anaheim in 2017, win the fight and get that ‘And a new champion…’ for beating me. They found he tested positive for steroids. Oh, he’s been suspended for 18 months, they say.

“You’re 18 months old now. You still have your money. And you’re still only 25 years old. I was 37/38 years old. Do you have a year off? It’s terrible, but it’s easy to call it water under the bridge. But to me it’s like, man. You did things in my career that never allowed me to settle down. Because I don’t know now.”

Cormier has always shown respect for Jon Jones, the fighter. And being fully aware of the level of talent he was up against at the time, Jones’ indiscretion still puzzled him.

Jones is so talented that he might still prevail in battles, according to Cormier. “We fought for the first time in 2015, that was seven years ago. I was 36 years old. He was about 24. A young man. Tall, he got all the physical gifts. He’s beating me. First, he is suspended.

“Steroids next time.” Failed. The next time the steroids failed. It’s like every time we fight and you get suspended, if we go through the interaction and you win the fight, that memory doesn’t go away.

“I can tell from the fights that the guy was maybe just better than me. But I also know that if you don’t do things that don’t uplift you, can you really work at the level that I work at? I always work so hard. And I’m old.”

Daniel Cormier POV on current Jon Jones situation.

 

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A post shared by Bony (@jonnybones)

Cormier believes it would have been a different outcome had he had the opportunity to fight Jones as a younger man.

“Some days when I was getting ready for this guy, I would actually crawl up the stairs to get to bed. Because my body was so beat up, I am a 38 year old man. (He’s) 27. If I fought him at 27, when you could jump out of bed, I’d be like, ‘Damn, that’s easy.’

“I can’t let it go man, its not in me to forget that phase. It happens (it still haunts me).”

Cormier won the light heavyweight title in Jones’ absence and then the heavyweight title to become the UFC’s second two-time champion. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame earlier this month alongside teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov.

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