Even six years on from their second UFC fight, legendary two-weight world champions Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier have no love lost.
Usually, when a pair of fighters have two iconic bouts and share over half an hour in the cage together, they will reconcile even the most bitter of feuds. But the controversy surrounding Jones’ two wins; the second of which was overturned for a failed drugs test, means there will always be bad blood.
And any recent interactions between the pair have remained frosty, as evidenced in a new behind-the-scenes UFC documentary on Roku. The pair were involved in a virtual fighter meeting, and despite putting on a polite face, they were clearly not friendly.
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Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones share one of UFC’s most bitter feuds
The feud between Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones dates back to 2014 when they first became rivals over the UFC light-heavyweight title. Their initial fight was cancelled due to a Jones injury, before they eventually met at UFC 182 in January of 2015.
Jones won by unanimous decision after an intense five-round battle. They were due to headline at UFC 197 and UFC 200 after Cormier won the vacant title, but both of those bout were also cancelled, first for a Cormier injury and then a failed Jones drug test.
Eventually, they managed to fight at UFC 214 in 2017, which Jones won by way of a vicious head kick knockout. However, that result was overturned due to yet another failed test, but fans maintained that the feud was decided regardless.
They never shared a trilogy, with Cormier moving on to win the heavyweight world title and retire in 2020 as one of the sport’s all-time greats. Jones remained atop the 205lb division, but after a three-year absence from the start of 2020 to the start of 2023 he bulked up to pursue a second world title.
Jones defeated Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in Las Vegas to crown himself yet another two-weight world champion. He was due back out in November against Stipe Miocic, but that bout was cancelled when he suffered a torn pec.
Daniel Cormier makes crude gesture as he shares frosty call with Jon Jones
Generally, Cormier attempts to steer clear of Jones during his post-fighting career. But in new footage from behind-the-scenes, the pair were brought together on a phone call as the ex-champion joined Jon Anik for a pre-fight meeting ahead of the Gane bout.
Cormier was on commentary that night, and the pair had to interact as part of the traditional fighter meetings held with every commentator. Cameras from Fight Inc: Inside the UFC captured Jones immediately asking if his old rival was on the call, and attempting a polite conversation.
“DC, I got a question for you,” Jones said, immediately stirring up annoyance from his former foe. “How are you doing, man? How’s life after fighting?” Cormier was clearly irked by the plan, having infamously told Jones that he is “fake” almost a decade prior.
“My life is good,” Cormier answered. “My life is going really well. Thank you.” Jones then paid his rival a compliment, telling him: “I just want to say, Daniel, I’m super proud of the way life’s turned out for you, man. Congratulations with everything you got going.”
Cormier, seemingly on the verge of some sort of outburst, laid on a backhanded compliment of his own, replying: “And your development seems to be going great too. It’s very encouraging. A lot of people look up to you. So make sure you continue to do that.”
“Yeah, I’m on it,” Jones answered, before noting the shift in tone from their fighting days. “Thank you. It’s good to talk to you with this energy instead of the way we usually have it.” Immediately after Anik cut off the phone call, Cormier stuck up the middle finger to the cameras as he giggled about the exchange.
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