UFC Hall of Fame Daniel Cormier and heavyweight champion Jon Jones have a heated past, but believe his rival was “bombarded” with two misdemeanor charges following an incident with a drug test sample collector.
Years after Cormier and Jones’ UFC championship saga and all the dramatic events surrounding their fights, tension between the two has eased. There was a time when the two men could not be in the same room together, but over the years, cool heads prevailed, although they did not call each other friends.
Now, as Jones has been accused of assault and interfering with communications stemming from an alleged incident that occurred on March 30, Cormier came to the defense of his rival.
“I know we all rush to judge Jones because of his past issues, but the reality is, if a man is in your house and he’s having a few drinks in his own house, so what?” Cormier said in a video on his Youtube channel. “It’s his right to do that. And if the drug testers come and he’s a little tipsy or confused, maybe the interactions won’t be as fun or easy as they might have been on other occasions.
“So I always thought it was bullshit. I don’t think much will happen, but because he is who he is, it’s always a story no matter what happens to this guy. And honestly, it’s like living in the spotlight, but I think because of everything he’s done in the past, the light shines a little brighter on him, even in situations where it shouldn’t. So I really don’t think it’s a big deal. Some of the things that happened in the past were much more serious.”
Jones denied the allegations and shared surveillance video that appeared to show Jones greeting the sample collector, who said he felt “terrified” and “afraid” of Jones during the visit to his Albuquerque home.
“If you hate Jones and expect something to happen, I don’t think it will,” Cormier said. “I think this man was bombed a little bit and I think a misdemeanor is just the court’s way of taking some action because something has to be done when you do something wrong.”
On Wednesday, Jones entered a plea of not guilty to the charges in a virtual hearing in a New Mexico courtroom. Cormier, of course, has no official legal capacity in Jones’ latest case, but hearing him publicly support his once bitter enemy in such a way would have been unthinkable not so long ago.
“I’m not the judge, I’m not the jury, so it doesn’t really matter,” Cormier said. “I’m just a guy who doesn’t like a guy, who’s actually defending that guy because I know that’s bullshit.”
