There are some rivalries that define a sport. The Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics in the NBA, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in the MLB, and the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears in the NFL are some of the rivalries that make these sports much more entertaining and intriguing to watch. But in an individual fast-moving sport like MMA, such long-standing and storied rivalries are hard to come by.
But Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones is precisely one such rivalry that not only captivated fans back in the 2010s but is still going strong today. The duo fought twice– at UFC 182 in 2015 and UFC 214 in 2017, both of which ‘Bones’ won in the Octagon. The second of these, of course, was famously overturned to a no-contest after Jones failed a d–g test. Along with their fights, the really entertaining part of their rivalry was the trash talk that the two men engaged in before their fight. You may remember the famous “I’ll kill you” and the “You think I’m just gonna stand there and let you kill me, Jon” interview.
But despite these heated moments, and Cormier feels hard done by due to Jones’ doping, he actually has nothing but pure respect for Jon Jones the businessman, who secured ‘DC’ some of the biggest purses of his career up to that point.
“That’s the elephant in the room– Jon could sit on this thing [the Tom Aspinall fight] for a while. I’m going to tell you right now as a guy that was partners with Jon Jones in the pay-per-view business, he’s a good one. There might not be many things that him and I can agree on, but in terms of him being a good partner on the other side of the billboard, the guy that’s on the marquee with you, he’s a good one in that regard,” Cormier said on his ‘Good Guy/Bad Guy Show’ with Chael Sonnen.
Madison Square Garden NEW YORK CITY, NY -NOVEMBER 16:Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic meet in the octagon for a 3-round bout for UFC309 – Jones vs Miocic at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2024 in New York City, NY Photo by Louis Grasse/PxImages Louis Grasse / SPP PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxBRAxMEX Copyright: xLouisxGrassex/xSPPx spp-en-LoGr-lrg2411164283824_UFCVegas309
Which is completely true. All of Jones’ shenanigans and all the heated trash-talk built up their fight and created so much hype for it. More hype, of course, equates to more anticipation, which in turn equates to more PPV sales and ticket buys. And Cormier, who may still harbor very real animosity for Jones, is intelligent and self-aware enough to recognize the GOAT contender’s money-making skills. But he isn’t the only Jones rival who recognizes ‘Bones’. His co-host went even further in praising the reigning undisputed heavyweight champion.
Chael Sonnen on why even his family thanked Jon Jones after their fight
The other guy who had a memorable rivalry with Jon Jones, of course, is Chael Sonnen. ‘The Bad Guy’ fought the then-light heavyweight champ at UFC 159 in 2013. And while their clash wasn’t really competitive, ‘Uncle Chael’, who did not like ‘Bones’ in the lead-up to the fight, used his verbosity and colorful personality to sell the clash. And despite getting absolutely dominated by ‘Bones’ at their clash, Sonnen is nothing but grateful to ‘Bones’.
“I had to thank him. I had to go thank him. He and I did not get along. I mean it was cats and dogs and I had that check– that one that comes in the mail that you don’t know you’re getting. And I just said ‘I just want to thank you.’ And he said ‘I bet you do Mr Sonnen’… He got my family’s thanks,” Sonnen told ‘DC’.
At the moment, however, Jones is under fire from almost the entire MMA community, including ‘DC’, for holding up the Tom Aspinall super-fight. To be fair, ‘Bones’ has claimed that the UFC is aware of his answer on the subject and was puzzled why Dana White and co. haven’t told it to the fans. Jones often uses strategic moves to maximize his leverage and build anticipation for his fights throughout his career. What are your thoughts on ‘DC’ and ‘Uncle Chael’ regarding Jon Jones?
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