Daniel Cormier gained’t deny the greatness of his career-nemesis Jon Jones, however he’s not able to name Jones the best fighter in blended martial arts historical past.
Cormier met Jones on two completely different events with the UFC mild heavyweight title on the road. Jones gained a choice of their first battle at UFC 182 in 2015, and within the rematch, Jones delivered a head kick knockout to Cormier at UFC 214 over two years later. Nonetheless, Jones failed a drug take a look at and the outcome was overturned to a No Contest.
Throughout Friday’s UFC 312 Fan Q&A, Cormier was requested if Jones was the GOAT.
“You guys all the time try this and, truthfully, you may’t deny his greatness,” Cormier stated. “Have a look at what he’s finished: The man has now fought by three generations of fighter — he fought that early technology with [Lyoto] Machida and them, he went by my technology, and now he’s combating a complete different technology of men.
“So, yeah, in fact, he’s one of many best fighters of all-time, however if you do soiled shit, you don’t get to be known as the best of all-time.”
The post-UFC 214 failed take a look at was not the primary incident Cormier handled when it got here to Jones. The historic rivals have been slated to compete in the primary occasion of UFC 200 in July 2016, however days earlier than the combat, Jones was eliminated as a consequence of an anti-doping violation. A heartbroken Cormier remained on the cardboard and face longtime middleweight champ Anderson Silva on tremendous quick discover, successful the bout through unanimous resolution.
Jones went on to regain the sunshine heavyweight title after Cormier centered on defending his heavyweight championship, defended it on three events, after which moved as much as heavyweight himself and captured his second divisional championship — which Jones nonetheless at the moment holds.
