It’s been the better part of a decade since Daniel Cormier fought Jon Jones, and two years since he retired from competition altogether, but DC is still sore about the Jones fights. A particular sore point is Jones’ repeated failure to pass drug tests. Although Jones won both their fights, he popped for drug use after, with DC explaining how he still can’t let it go on the Pivot podcast.
“He beats me, gets suspended for the first time. Next time, steroids, failed. Next time, steroids, failed. It’s like every time we fight, and you get suspended, if we go through the interaction, and you won the fight, that memory does not disappear.
DC “Can’t Let Go” Of “Cheater” Jon Jones’ Failed Drug Tests
Even though they said it’s a no contest, [they] saw [me] lose. It’s the truth. All he gets is time. Jon Jones even then was making probably $5 million. So Jon Jones, 2017, fights me in Anaheim, wins the fight, gets that ‘and new champion’ from beating me.
[Then] they find out he tests positive for steroids. They say, ‘Oh man, he’s suspended for 18 months.’ Now you get 18 months, [but] you still got your money. And you’re still only 25, 26 years old. I’m 37, 38 years old.
You’re 27, and you get a year off. It’s horrible, but it’s easy for him to say water under the bridge. But for me, it’s like, ‘Man, you did some stuff to my career that never let me settle, because now I don’t know.’”
Daniel Cormier’s career, of course, continued despite the Jones fights. He is one of only a handful of fighters to earn titles in two weight divisions, and he was recently inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. As a competitor, however, the simple fact that he lost to Jones while Jones was using PEDs still rankles.
“I could know through the fights that maybe this dude is just better than me. But I also know that if you’re not doing the things that are boosting you, can you really work to the level that I’m working? I can’t let it go. He’s a cheater.”
The tragedy, for Daniel Cormier, is that Jon Jones could have been truly great, if not for his inability to stay off drugs.
“He’s got all these great instincts for fighting, but he just cannot allow himself to be as great as he is. That’s the one thing about Israel Adesanya that I said: He is becoming everything that everybody thought Jon Jones was going to be, in terms of expanding the box of what a mixed martial arts fighter can be. Because Jones was gonna be the man.
If he stayed clean, he would’ve been the man, because people loved him. All athletes loved him and what he did.” Should DC let it go, or is he right about Jon Jones? Let us know in the comments.
