Daniel Cormier has denied being bitter about Jon Jones' UFC heavyweight title win after his reaction to the fight went viral.
Cormier, 43, has a long-term rivalry with fellow UFC legend Jones, 35, who won the vacant heavyweight belt last weekend by tapping out Ciryl Gane in just over two minutes. Cormier, who was commentating the fight, was accused of being "bitter" to Jones' win but has insisted that his nonchalant reaction to the win was because he couldn't work out what submission Gane tapped to.
A fan asked: "Why is DC so bitter?" and Cormier then responded: "Not bitter at all, legit couldn’t see what he had tapped to until we saw the different camera angle. You guys sure can create things. I really don’t care either way, I’m here to call fights only."
Bitter rivals Jones and Cormier were once fined for brawling during a face-off before their first fight, which Jones went on to win by a one-sided decision. They fought again two years later with Jones winning by KO, a result that was later overturned to a no-contest when 'Bones' failed a drugs test for the anabolic steroid turinabol.
Jones put his rivalry with Cormier to bed before his recent title win as he welcomed the idea of 'DC' interviewing him after the fight. Cormier has also seemingly ended his hatred for 'Bones' as he praised the newly-crowned heavyweight champion for his "impressive" win against Gane.
“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," Cormier said on his YouTube channel.
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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."
Jones is expected to make the first defence his heavyweight title against former champion Stipe Miocic, with UFC 290 on July 8 being a potential date for the fight. Miocic, 40, hasn't fought since losing his heavyweight title when he was knocked out by Francis Ngannou two years ago.
