Daniel Cormier puts bitter rivalry to one side to praise UFC champion Jon Jones

07 March 2023 , 16:06

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Daniel Cormier puts bitter rivalry to one side to praise UFC champion Jon Jones

Daniel Cormier has put his rivalry with Jon Jones to one side to praise the new UFC heavyweight champion.

'Bones' made his long-awaited UFC comeback last weekend against French contender Cyril Gane, whom he choked out in the first round to become the new heavyweight king. Jones has now cemented his place as arguably the promotion's greatest ever fighter and has moved his name up to No.1 in the promotion's latest pound-for-pound rankings.

Jones has some big wins to his name during his career in the UFC including against Cormier whom he defeated in their second fight by KO after the first outing was ruled a no contest. Despite initially congratulating Jones for his display, 'DC' was keen to also point out some flaws in his former opponent's UFC 285 performance.

“Jones doesn’t look like the same guy in the octagon,” Cormier said in a video on his YouTube channel. “He’s a tad bit slower, his movements aren’t as quick and dynamic, but that’s what you expect for a guy that puts on that much weight. But when he went out there he seemed to be having a good time.

“Hats off to Jon Jones for doing something he said he was going to do by winning the fight. Not only winning the fight, winning the fight impressively. Jon Jones is the heavyweight champion of the world in a way that not many expected. All week Jon Jones spoke about how easy this fight could be and nobody wanted to believe it. I know I didn’t.

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“He had an answer that was still almost dismissive of Ciryl Gane and I didn’t understand it. I figured he was chasing challenges to elevate himself to the next level. Well, he goes out there and dominates in a way that tells me that everything he said he believed from the very start and he just did it."

Daniel Cormier holds a bitter rivalry with Jon Jones (Getty Images)

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Jones was dominant during the win and earned huge plaudits given he has now conquered a second division. It remains unclear if any fighter will now be able to dethrone him given former champion Francis Ngannou vacated the belt which handed the American the chance to win it.

However UFC president Dana White has suggested it will now be Stipe Miocic in line to face Jones next. "I don't know when, but he's definitely fighting Stipe," White said. "Can anybody deny this guy is the goat anymore? Not only is he is the greatest light-heavyweight ever but he also looks like the greatest heavyweight ever too. The guy is unf****ng believable, he seriously is. There is no doubt Jon Jones is special, he's fought all the best competition out there."

Ben Davies