Daniel Cormier isn’t all that hyped over a potential third fight with Jon Jones as retirement looms.
It appears that Cormier’s name will always be tied to Jones’s, with the 40-year old having failed to beat the latter on the previous two occasions. Jones won their first fight by unanimous decision at UFC 182 but his UFC 214 knockout win over Cormier was sullied by his testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug that ultimately saw Cormier handed the light heavyweight belt back.
Jones is constantly touted as the best fighter of all time but Cormier can boast having won both the light heavyweight and heavyweight titles, something Jones has yet to do. Their rivalry is one of the most talked up in the history of MMA and UFC boss Dana White only recently told reporters he would love for them to fight once more, albeit admitting that the bout isn’t a must.
It’s easy to want to see Cormier and Jones go at it. They’re at the top of the MMA food chain right now and this has to be the fight fans want to happen. Cormier, though, isn’t as enthusiastic as he reckons whatever results from the potential fight will be tainted, given Jones’s failed drug test.
“I think at this point in my career and my life, if you ask me these questions three years ago in 2015 after I lost to him the first time, I’d get all kinds of fired up about everything Jon Jones. Now I’m at a different time in my life,” he told MMA Fighting. “Maybe I’ve lost faith in the honor of the sport because I feel that if we fight again, at the end of it win or lose, something extra will always be tied to it and I’m not talking about past interactions.
“I’m talking even after this next one, something will happen and it will just ruin it. Even after our last fight, I was ready to move on. Like OK, you got me and look what happened. I guess I just lost faith in everything.”
There’s no telling whether or not this fight will happen, especially as Cormier isn’t far from retiring. But, in the meantime, he’s set to face Stipe Miocic in what should be an exciting championship rematch at UFC 241 on August 17.
The heavyweight champ is going into this fight as the favorite but he’d do well to expect a difficult time. Paddy Power is offering odds of 8/13 on Cormier retaining his title and 6/5 on Miocic getting one over him. MMA fans in Canada could find the best UFC betting Predictions at OnlineSportsbetting.ca, with the sport picking up a rapid pace in the country and interest at an all-time high.
Cormier and Miocic will headline the event but there will be several more fights to watch and to bet on. Of the others, Bet365 has odds of 4/5 on Anthony Pettis pulling off a victory over Nate Diaz while William Hill has 5/6 on Diaz winning. Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa are also set to square off at the event and Betfair has 1/2 on Romero, also placing odds of 13/8 on the latter.
Cormier, meanwhile, says he’s only focused on his upcoming fight and isn’t thinking about Jones right now.
“Right now I’m so focused on Stipe Miocic because here’s the deal. At 205 [pounds], I’m not fighting guys like Volkan Oezdemir anymore, no disrespect to Volkan or Anthony Smith or Thiago Santos. I’m fighting the greatest heavyweight of all time,” he adds. “I think I need to be solely focused on that right now.”