It’s been years, but Daniel Cormier It is Jon Jones they still find ways to attack each other.
This time it was UFC heavyweight champion Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC), who used Cormier as an example by discarding Tom Aspinall’s current interim title.
“The UFC is a brilliant company, it did what it had to do to save the event,” Jones wrote last week on X in response to a fan comment. “But I agree with you, it definitely confused a lot of UK fans into thinking their boy was actually the champion. It reminds me of when DC was the ‘champion’ during my absence.”
The UFC is a brilliant company, it did what it had to do to save the event. But I agree with you, it definitely confused a lot of UK fans into thinking their boy was actually the champion. This reminds me of when DC was the “champion” during my absence. https://t.co/UXbx7LMboG
– BONY (@JonnyBones) May 9, 2024
After Jones retained 205-pound title against Cormier at UFC 182he was later stripped by his involvement in a hit-and-run. As a result, Cormier fought Anthony Johnson for the vacant title at UFC 187, sending “Rumble” to become champion. Cormier then successfully defended his belt against Alexander Gustafsson.
Meanwhile, Jones beat Ovince Saint Preux to win the interim title at UFC 197, but was stripped once again after failed another drug test. Cormier would go on to achieve another title defense by defeating Johnson for the second time, setting up the long-awaited rematch with Jones. Cormier was knocked out at UFC 214, but once again Jones would lose the belt after testing positive for a turinabol metabolite, which reestablished Cormier as champion.
Cormier said his situation cannot be compared to Aspinall’s.
“This is not a real indication of what was going on,” Cormier said in his Youtube channel in response to Jones. “Look guys, Jon is out injured, so Tom Aspinall is now the champion. I understood. But that’s not what happened when he and I were fighting. He misrepresented what the situation was. Tom Aspinall is not champion because of his absence, so much. Tom Aspinall is the champion because he was available, he won the belt when Jon was injured. He beat me, so maybe I wasn’t the champion?
“But he disqualified himself. They are two different situations because at this moment he was injured. With me, it was him getting caught doing things he shouldn’t have and then being stripped naked and removed from the competition. Although it may look the same, it is not the same. He was unable to compete when I was champion. He was not allowed to compete, not because of injury, but because of illegal substances found inside his body. That’s just the truth.”
Cormier will not be blamed for Jones’ setbacks that led to his title shot.
“That’s my answer,” Cormier said. “Jones, it wasn’t the same, man. So no matter how quick you are and how magical you are in manipulating and saying this and that, that is not the case. It was different. You couldn’t compete whenever I was fighting. You could not. You couldn’t make the decision to go fight. I was champion for a long time, which is crazy.”
