The war of words between Daniel “DC” Cormier and his nemesis Jon “Bones” Jones is still ongoing. This time, the retired Cormier feels strongly about Jones’ Twitter fingers criticizing the heavyweight division instead of jumping in the pool and competing with the division’s elites.
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“For me, it’s about Jon Jones needs to fight,” Cormier said on the ESPN show “DC & RC.” “At some point, you got to fight. You got to fight. It’s one thing to be the champion, defending, fighting — even when him and I were going through our thing, he would get suspended, but then he would come back and he would fight.
“Even if that meant fighting Ovince Saint Preux whenever I was hurt, but ultimately he was fighting. Right now, he’s just talking. It’s like, when are you going to fight? Because for as bad as it was, Francis had a torn meniscus. Francis was hurt. Francis had a bad training camp. All these things. Francis still fought.”
Dana White has revealed he is 'hoping' to make Francis Ngannou vs Jon Jones later this year.
"I don't know.
"I'm hoping that will be one of the big fights this year. If we can pull that one off, we definitely will."
Thoughts, peeps. #UFC
Dope artwork via @needingart pic.twitter.com/t43Oko8v87
— Chisanga Malata (@Chisanga_Malata) January 27, 2022
The Bones Way
Jones (26-1) last fought in February 2020 when he retained the UFC light heavyweight title against Dominick Reyes. However, he decided to relinquish the title six months later to prepare for a heavyweight debut.
However, Jones has yet to compete in the division.
Instead, Jones has been in a host of trouble, an issue for him for most of his professional career. From a domestic violence incident that occurred after his UFC Hall of Fame induction in Las Vegas last year against his fiancée to being ousted from his home gym in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Jones is still tripping.
Was watching some old fights of @JonnyBones. It baffles me how low people rate him these days. With all due respect to the guys in pictures here, @dc_mma & @gloverteixeira, he toyed with them! 1 is former double champ and 2 is current LHW champ. #MMA #UFC #Jones #Bones #UFC270 pic.twitter.com/xpROutlFmG
— Kaustubh Bhogle (@KaustubhKB13) January 27, 2022
“At The End Of The Day…”
However, Jones has been vocal about what he thinks he brings to the heavyweight division and highly critical of its current leaders.
After Francis Ngannou had a relatively safe grapple win over Ciryl Gane, Jones took to social media to express his feelings on both fighters.
“At the end of the day, I’m f***ing them both up,” said Jones on Twitter.
@JonnyBones Since I started watching UFC, you are the person that made me keep coming back for more. You are not just the GOAT, But you are the Greatest Fighter Ever. You are so good that you don't even have to fight the Champion to prove it.😌We all know. pic.twitter.com/UDf8ab229j
— CaZ UniQ (@Cazwhin) January 27, 2022
Ngannou vs. Jones?
The heavyweight title unification fight between Francis Ngannou (17-3) and Ciryl Gane (10-1) at UFC 270 was a breaking point for Ngannou, who is at the end of his contract with the UFC. However, with the win Ngannou now has a three-fight extension, or he has to sit out a year before taking new offers.
If Jones were in the UFC heavyweight mix, it would make for a more robust heavyweight division and set up a potential showdown between Jones and Ngannou.
Still, Cormier believes that Jones isn’t able to discuss active heavyweights while he is still on the sidelines.
FACTS! 👊#UFC #JonJones pic.twitter.com/pcQWWvCc0U
— NerdShredz (@NerdShredz) January 27, 2022
Cormier Throws Shade
“So you can say, ‘Well, they’re not that good,’ but ultimately they’re still in there doing their thing. Why aren’t you in there doing your thing? You are one of the most talented mixed martial artists of all time.
“Why aren’t you in there doing your thing against these guys, opposed to judging them, because for all of the bad blood and all the bad stuff between Francis and the UFC right now, Francis still went out there. He went out there, he fought hurt, and he got a victory.
“So if you’re going to judge the apex predator that Francis is on last weekend, know that you’re judging a wounded apex predator,” Cormier said. “So you may think that he’s not as good now because of what you saw, but maybe you’re just putting yourself up for a bigger disappointment when you do finally make that jump.”
When @JonnyBones wins his HW debut, he gets moved back up to #1 P4P
— Champ Champ👑 (@2xchampchamp) January 26, 2022
Sideline Talking
Cormier and Jones have fought twice, with Jones taking a unanimous decision, and their second fight was ruled a no contest.
Initially, the fight was ruled a knockout from a head kick and punches win for Jones; overturned, and Jones was stripped of the title after testing positive for a turinabol metabolite.
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