Jon Jones is willing to do more than just bury the hatchet with Daniel Cormier.
Ahead of his return and heavyweight debut at UFC 285, ‘Bones’ is letting bygones be bygones when it comes to his longtime rival. Jones would squash the beef with Cormier, citing the respect he has for his former foe and how ‘grateful’ he was for him turning him into a ‘better competitor’.
Furthermore
However, this wasn’t all Jones had to say about DC.
On ‘Unlocking the Cage with Jimmy Smith’, Jones said he believes Cormier will do a ‘great job’ if he commentates his next fight against Ciryl Gane and is even open to befriending Cormier after all these years of animosity towards each other.
“I do believe that Daniel will do a great job,” Jones said of Cormier. “All the guys do a really good job at being unbiased. The UFC hires these guys because they’re professionals and I think he’s going to do a great job if he gets the job. Daniel has commentated for me before, I believe he was in the corner when I fought Ovince Saint Preux and did a great job. He’s not biased.”
‘We’d Actually Make Great Friends’
‘Bones’ continued.
“People try to make Daniel and I out to be these absolute archenemies. If you look at competitive athletes throughout history, they all come around. Mike Tyson and (Evander) Holyfield, they all come around. It’s just competition.
“Outside of the sport, I have no ill will toward Daniel. I think he’s a very stand-up individual, and I think we’d actually make great friends if we were ever to sit down in front of each other and really just chat it out.”
Jon Jones fought Daniel Cormier twice in his career, beating him at UFC 182 and UFC 214. But, his rematch with DC would end up being a no-contest following a positive drug test.
The storied history between the pair of former UFC Light Heavyweight Champions is considered one of the greatest rivalries in UFC history, however it looks like that rivalry has now been put to bed for good.
"I think we'd actually make great friends, if we were ever to sit down in front of each other and really just chat it out."
'Absolute archenemies' no more, @JonnyBones says he has no ill will towards @dc_mma #UFC285🛑@jimmysmithmma
Source: Unlocking the Cage with Jimmy Smith pic.twitter.com/a0r56jEGCF
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) February 21, 2023
