Daniel Cormier doesn’t agree with Jon Jones often, but one topic they see eye-to-eye on is the dubious loss on Jones’ record.
On Jones’ 29-fight résumé, there are two glaring blemishes: A 2009 loss to Matt Hamill that occurred when Jones was disqualified for the use of prohibited 12-to-6 elbows, and his 2017 knockout of Cormier that was later overturned to a no-contest when Jones tested positive for a banned substance.
Though nothing can be done about the latter result, Cormier is an advocate for Jones’ lone loss to be removed, especially with the recently revised rules (including the legalization of 12-to-6 elbows) that were introduced at UFC Edmonton this past Saturday.
“Jon Jones should be undefeated,” Cormier said at a Q&A this past Friday in Edmonton. “He really should be. A 12-6 elbow is crazy, but you know, we only can fight under the rules that they give us and, unfortunately, there was a moron referee that said he should be disqualified. But he’s undefeated.”
Cormier and Jones have a storied rivalry, with the two trading plenty of shots in and out of the octagon. Though their second meeting is officially a no-contest, Jones still holds a win over Cormier, having won a unanimous decision over “DC” in their first fight at UFC 182.
The build-up to their fights saw Cormier and Jones frequently insult each other and at one point even engage in a public brawl. In the years since their last fight, a grudging respect has developed between the two, and Cormier is fine with where their relationship stands.
“We aren’t great and I don’t think that we ever have to [be],” Cormier said. “I think people need to stop longing for the perfect happy ending. Guys don’t have to do what Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield did. It can be OK to just be OK with us being as we are and I’m fine with it, so you guys should be, too.”
Jones, the current UFC heavyweight champion, is set to defend his title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 on Nov. 16 in New York. The bout is being billed as a battle of two of the greatest fighters of all time and potentially the final fight for both, though neither has made any firm commitment to a fight night retirement.
Cormier, for one, will miss seeing Jones compete.
“He’s beat a lot of guys,” Cormier said. “The amount of champions that Jon Jones has beaten over the course of his career is very impressive. The guy has been champion for a long time, he’s done a great job, and it will suck whenever he’s gone because the game is better when you have fighters like that in it. Unfortunately, there’s been a lot of times where he hasn’t been in it because of the things that he’s done.”
Watch the UFC Edmonton Q&A below.
