Jon Jones does not accept the idea that Daniel Cormier is still his great UFC rival.
Jones spoke during ALF Global’s “Alf Reality” series and pointed to their head-to-head history. Jones defeated Cormier by unanimous decision at UFC 182 in 2015. Their 2017 rematch originally ended with Jones stopping Cormier by third-round knockout, but the result was later overturned to a no contest after Jones tested positive for a turinabol metabolite.
Jones still framed the matchup as settled.
“I feel like everyone feels as if we have a big rivalry. A rivalry usually happens when one person has won, one person has won. I have two. There’s no rivalry. Not only is there not a rivalry, he’s not even my toughest opponent.”
Watch the clip below:
🤔Jon Jones says there is NO rivalry with DC because he is 2-0
"I think everyone feels as if we have a big rivalry. A rivalry is usually when one person is 1 and one person is 1. I have 2-0. There's no rivalry"
via ALF GLOBAL pic.twitter.com/lS0ionmF3E
— Dovy🔌 (@DovySimuMMA) May 15, 2026
Cormier Still Has No Love For Jones
Cormier gave a direct answer when asked if he hates Jones.
“Yes. It’s very easy. It’s like very easy. It’s a one-word answer. You don’t need to like go over this, this, this. Yes.”
Jones and Cormier’s history goes deeper than two cage meetings. They brawled during a 2014 media event before UFC 178, fought for the light heavyweight title at UFC 182, and were later booked for UFC 200 before Jones was pulled from the card after a USADA violation. Their rematch finally happened in 2017 before the result was changed to a no contest.
Jones also named Dominick Reyes and Alexander Gustafsson ahead of Cormier when ranking his toughest opponents. Gustafsson pushed Jones through five rounds at UFC 165 in 2013, while Reyes lost a disputed decision to Jones at UFC 247 in 2020. Reyes later said Jones “dropped the belt and went to heavyweight” after their fight.
Jones laid out that ranking in another clip.
“My toughest opponents, Alexander Gustafsson, Dominick Reyes, D3, DC. DC’s my third toughest opponent.”
Cormier immediately fired back over Jones’ drug-test history.
“That might be the third dose. I’m the only one. Look, this n*****, it’s all ass, back, neck, everywhere. Shot, shot. This one hit two legs. Shot everywhere. This n***** put steroids all over his body.”
Watch that exchange below:
Daniel Cormier fires back after Jon Jones ranked him third among his toughest opponents 💉💉
DC said, ‘I might be the third one, but I’m the only one. N*gga put steroids all over his body.’ 😅
(via ALF Global) pic.twitter.com/p6d1RXhBMQ
— FREAK.MMA (@FREAKMMA1) May 15, 2026
The same drug-test subject came up again after Jones said, “I laugh when DC’s crying.” Cormier answered by pointing to the “drug man” showing up at Jones’ house.
“Oh yeah, but I also laugh when he’s crying. I’ve seen him do that a number of times also. I’ve seen him cry too. Like, yeah, that’s always fun.”
Cormier responded:
“But I’ve seen him cry. Oh yeah, he did. Yeah, he did cry. Over the drug man. The drug man showed up his house. He thought he cried. I’m just telling you the truth. It was over a man named… It wasn’t a woman that showed up to tell his ass.”
Watch that clip below:
Daniel Cormier brings up Jon Jones’ drug controversies after Jones said he "laughs when DC cries"😭
(via ALF Global) pic.twitter.com/ks14HljUdo
— FREAK.MMA (@FREAKMMA1) May 15, 2026
Cormier’s résumé still stands on its own. He was an Olympic wrestler, UFC light heavyweight champion, UFC heavyweight champion, and one of the few fighters to hold UFC belts in two divisions. Against Jones, Cormier never recorded a win.
The rivalry also keeps returning through interviews and social media. Earlier this year, Cormier and Jones traded shots again after Cormier discussed Jones’ failed test history, with Jones answering through a “one head kick” jab about UFC 214. Jones says there is no rivalry because Cormier never beat him. Cormier says he still hates Jones because the history never stopped being personal.
