During an open-workout session for this weekend’s big UFC 187 pay-per-view, Daniel Cormier shared his opinion on the recent Jon Jones situation with the attending media. Unsurprisingly, the light-heavyweight contender did not exactly pity the troubled former champion.
“I don’t feel sorry for Jon; I feel sorry for the lady he hit in the car that has a baby coming,” Cormier said. “I feel sorry for his parents who have to wake up every morning and see those types of things in the media. I don’t feel sorry for him. He did this.”
Jones has been stripped of the UFC title and suspended indefinitely in April, after allegedly causing a car crash with a pregnant woman by passing a red light, and leaving the scene of the accident.
“I feel bad for his family and the people around him. But he’s making these decisions,” Cormier continued. “I think it’s time for people to stop feeling sorry for this guy and make him realize that he has to get things done the right way. By feeling sorry for him, it’s almost like you enable the guy to continue to do bad things. I mean, I don’t feel sorry for him. I feel sorry for the people closest to him. These decisions don’t affect just Jon. It affects every body around him.”
Jon Jones has a rather long history of personal misconducts, starting with a DWI arrest in 2012, reportedly bad company in his private life, a brawl with Cormier at a press conference end of last year, and a positive test for cocaine metabolites in January.
“If there’s anything I take away from this with Jones it’s he has an issue,” Cormier said. “He has some demons. Not only because of this incident, but because of the past incidents. And even the [positive] test before him and I fought. This is arguably the biggest fight of your career and a month before you’re doing those types of things.”
The current felony hit-and-run charge is now the tip of the iceberg for Jones, and fans of the gifted pound-for-pound great worry he might mess up his fighting career with his antics outside of the cage. But Cormier feels, what people should focus on instead, is “him becoming a better person and him fixing himself,” he said.
“None of us should sit here and worry about Jon Jones the athlete. You worry about Jon Jones the person, because that’s what’s important right now. He has some demons, some issues he needs to take care of before he can get back to all this. This will always be here waiting for him. He’s 27 years old. Get himself together, be a better person and then worry about the athlete.”
(Transcription via MMA Fighting)
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