UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier has responded Jon Jones’ recent statement.
Jones, who shared the cage twice in an intense title fight rivalry with Cormier, recently said he would have no issues with his adversary on commentary for his upcoming main event heavyweight title bout against Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in Las Vegas.
“DC you are more than welcome to commentate at my fight, I think you are really good at what you do,” Jones wrote on Twitter Wednesday. “I trust that you would be non-biased. All the best brother.”
Cormier says he was unsure how to take the statement.
“You guys know how I feel about Jones and how we have felt about each other in the past,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “But it leads me to this question: How do I take this? This particular tweet, which at times feels like a compliment, but also could be interpreted as a bit of a dig – considering at times, people call me biased in my commentary and all this other stuff. … First, just for the record, I don’t really need permission to call someone’s fight.”
Cormier has become a fixture on UFC broadcasts after retiring from fighting competition in 2020, and has called a number of fights that involved opponents he faced in the cage, including Jones.
At UFC 197, Cormier joined the booth to call Jones’ fight against Ovince Saint Preux, which was during a time when their rivalry was at its peak.
“I’ll be honest with you, it’s kind of nice hearing a fighter acknowledge, that even with our history, he believes that I can do him justice and do the job fairly – because I’ve done it before,” Cormier said. “… It seems now that Jones is maturing. He seems to be taking a much different approach to the build to the fight and how he’s approaching everything. But it feels nice for him to acknowledge, ‘I think this guy could do me justice.'”
While Cormier believes he will perform his commentary duties with the utmost professionalism, he is unsure how many other regular pre-fight activities he will share with Jones during fight week, even if it appears cooler heads are prevailing in their once-white-hot rivalry.
“Yes, it is nice to hear him go, ‘Hey man, I believe Daniel Cormier can do the job,'” Cormier said. “But I’m a professional. I have to be able to do the job. I don’t know that Jon Jones and I sit for an interview. I don’t know if we sit for a fighter meeting. I don’t know. I can’t answer those questions for you just yet, because I don’t know.”
