Daniel Cormier Says His Rivalry With Jon Jones Put MMA on the Radar for the Black Community

Smrutisnat Jena | 04/02/2025
Daniel Cormier (L), Jon Jones (R)

One is a UFC great. The other is the current heavyweight champion. They simply hated each others’ guts during their title runs at 205 lbs. They brawled, not only in the ring but outside it as well. But now, one of them feels that this very public rivalry actually ended up making them community role models!

Bizarre as it sounds, UFC veteran Daniel Cormier is convinced that his very public face-offs with heavyweight champ Jon Jones ended up being a good thing; that it was important for the Black community to see the two of them fight inside the octagon. Why so?

Well, DC points out something interesting that his friend and former heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez once explained to him about the importance of diversity. Velasquez told him that a lot of times, children try to emulate the person who looks like them. Velasquez himself had the privilege of watching the great Julio Cesar Chavez as a youngster. So all he wanted to do was fight.

While the Black community had boxers, DC says MMA was simply not on the radar for them — a situation which he feels changed after he first fought Jones at 178 and had a public brawl with him at the MGM Grand.

“So for me to be a Black fighter, to have the legacy that I have, to have the rivalry that I had with Jon Jones, it means a ton to me. I know now that more kids can look at me, they can look at Jones, Usman and Rashad Evans and all these other great fighters and go, ‘I want to be like Leon Edwards.“

DC can certainly be proud of having been part of a cultural revolution that brought mixed martial arts to the Black community. He was also an exemplary champion, who had more accomplishments than most men on the planet. His experience of seeing this change in his community further serves as a reminder of what can be accomplished when children have the right role models to follow.

Interestingly, DC’s comments come just days after welterweight prospect Joaquin Buckley urged the UFC for ‘peace and unity’ during Black History Month.

Buckley’s bizarre matchmaking request

Claiming that this was not a month meant for Black people to be fighting each other, Buckley asserted that the UFC should not be booking African American fighters against each other. He then joked that he was happy to beat up Black fighters till kingdom come after the month was over.

Obviously, people didn’t take his words too seriously. This fan claimed that in the interest of broadcasting Black excellence, “the UFC could book nothing but black fighters all month long to fight each other“. Another asked if he would turn down big fights if they were offered to him, and said, “So if they offered you Usman this month, you would say NO????”

Another fan joked that “Dana (White) is going to make an all-Black UFC event for March after seeing this”.

Buckley might have a point. But having listened to Cormier talk about how Black champions and mixed martial artists like him inspired a generation, it just seems we need more of the same, especially this month. What do you think?

Post Edited By: Smrutisnat Jena
Daniel Cormier

About the author

Smrutisnat Jena

Smrutisnat Jena is a UFC Editor with The SportsRush. With 8 years of experience under his belt, Smrutisnat has had a career that has travelled through the multiverse of journalism, be it politics, entertainment or satire. But as a practitioner of amateur wrestling, his true love has always been combat sports. After being introduced to Chuck Liddell at the age of 8, working with MMA has always been THE goal for him. When he's away from work, Smrutisnat likes hanging out with dogs, and sparring with his teammates at the local gym, often simultaneously.

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