Jon Jones has mocked Daniel Cormier for being confused in the moments after his UFC heavyweight title win against Ciryl Gane.
Jones, 35, won the vacant heavyweight title this past weekend by choking out Gane in just over two minutes at UFC 285. Cormier shared a bitter feud with fellow two-weight champion Jones before he retired from fighting and 'DC' went viral for his nonchalant reaction to Jones' win whilst commentating the fight.
Cormier has denied being "bitter" about Jones' win and insisted he couldn't see what submission Gane tapped to until he was shown a different camera angle. Jones responded to Cormier's reaction by tweeting: "My man couldn’t even pretend to smile, it was pretty funny. Asking what happened, an experienced former champion and analyst suddenly not being able to identify a guillotine [choke]."
Jones and Cormier fought twice in the UFC and were even fined for brawling during a face-off before their first meeting, which Jones went on to win by a one-sided decision. Their rematch took place two years later as Jones won by knockout - a result that was later overturned to a no-contest when he failed a drugs test for the anabolic steroid turinabol.
Despite their hostilities, Cormier praise Jones for his heavyweight title win when reacting to the fight on his YouTube channel, stating: "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.
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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."
'Bones' already has the first challenger of his new heavyweight belt lined up as he is expected to face former champion Stipe Miocic next, with UFC 290 on July 8 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.
