Daniel Cormier Won’t Wait For Jon Jones’ UFC Return To Defend His Title
After winning the vacant UFC Light Heavyweight Championship by submitting Anthony “Rumble” Johnson back at UFC 187, Daniel Cormier had a very simple message for Jon Jones, as he told the former Light Heavyweight Champ “get your s**t together,” and that he’d be waiting to defend his title against Jones when he returned.
At the time, Jones had been involved in a hit-and-run in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which led to him being put on probation, and it forced the UFC to indefinitely suspend him, and strip him of the Light Heavyweight Title.
This past Saturday’s UFC 200 main-event was supposed to be the Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier rematch, however, just two days before the fight, Jones tested positive for what was believed to be a performance-enhancing drug. He was then pulled from the card, and replaced with Anderson Silva.
Unless he can prove himself to be innocent, Jon Jones is facing a two-year suspension. There have been several fighters — Yoel Romero, Tim Means — who have been given six-month suspension after testing positive for a PED because they were able to prove that they were taking a tainted supplement, and it’s expected that Jones will go the same route.
On Monday, former UFC middleweight contender, and one of Jones’ most famous opponents, Chael Sonnen, appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, and he broke some news, saying that Jones tested positive for estrogen blockers. Of course, that hasn’t been proven as fact, but, according to Sonnen, that’s what was in the former Light Heavyweight Champ’s system when he got tested back on June 16.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xk7A_aNalA
Jon Jones’ fate is irrelevant to the current UFC Champ however, as Daniel Cormier spoke with Luke Thomas of MMA Fighting on his Sirius XM radio show, and he said that he doesn’t plan on waiting to see what happens to Jones before he decides to defend his title again.
“I’m not willing to wait at all [for Jones]. Even if they suspend him for just a few months, I don’t care. I’m probably gonna fight somebody different first. I need to separate myself from this a little bit, for me. For me and my mind, my mentality. I think I need to separate myself from him a little bit. It’s so emotionally taxing with everything that has happened and it hasn’t come to pass.”
Of the four times Jones vs. Cormier has been made official, they’ve only fought once, and Jones soundly defeated DC in that bout.
In the aforementioned conversation with Luke Thomas, Cormier admitted that he needs to fight Jones again because if he retired without getting that rematch, he’d feel sick because he never got the opportunity to “right the wrong” that he feels that fight was.
Glover Teixeira is set to fight Anthony “Rumble” Johnson at next month’s UFC 202, and the winner of that fight will get the next shot at Daniel Cormier.
Teixeira will be entering UFC 202 on a three-fight winning streak, and, as of this writing, he’s ranked third in the UFC’s light heavyweight division.
“Rumble” Johnson will be entering UFC 202 on a two-fight winning streak, with his most recent win being a first round knockout of Ryan Bader. Johnson is currently ranked second in the light heavyweight division, and he’s already lost to Cormier once before by submission, but he did crack DC with a pretty good shot in the opening minutes of their first bout. So, “Rumble” definitely has a chance to knock DC out in the rematch.
The fate of Jon Jones will likely be decided within the next couple of months, and it does look like he’ll end up getting suspended for two years. But, even if he gets a lighter punishment, he’ll probably have to fight someone else before getting a shot at the Light Heavyweight Championship.
[Image by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images]
