UFC analyst Daniel Cormier doesn’t want Jon Jones heading down the same road Conor McGregor did after stepping away from the UFC.
Jones, the former light heavyweight and heavyweight champion, officially retired last month. After months of speculation about a possible showdown with England’s Tom Aspinall, Jones hung up the gloves before the fight could materialize. But despite walking away, Jones has already started flirting with the idea of a comeback.
Daniel Cormier would rather see Jones quietly fade out instead of chasing headlines. Speaking on Good Guy / Bad Guy alongside Chael Sonnen, Cormier addressed Jones’ antics head-on and made it clear he’s not a fan of the direction Jones is heading in.
“Jon Jones and I don’t see eye-to-eye in most instances,” Cormier said. “And, boy, he’s been great for my YouTube here this last couple months. Him flopping all over the place has been great for my YouTube.
“Please don’t become what Conor has become in the media. Every time a big story breaks, Conor’s like, I’m back, or I’m doing this…
“Don’t do that. Don’t try to make it about you when you voluntarily walked away from this. Conor didn’t voluntarily walk away. Conor got hurt, and he left. He just hasn’t come back.
“Jones voluntarily said I’m done. So now that he’s done, don’t try to make these stories about you whenever you’re a guy that’s supposed to have walked away from the game.”
Daniel Cormier has more history with Jon Jones than almost anyone in the fight game. The two fought twice in one of the most heated rivalries in UFC history. Jones won the first by decision while Cormier won the second by knockout, but the result was overturned to a no-contest due to a failed drug test.
Both battles happened at light heavyweight, a division both men once ruled. Cormier also later captured the heavyweight belt, making him a two-division champion just like Jones and McGregor.
Now, with Jones retired, Aspinall has been promoted from interim to undisputed heavyweight champion. Jones walked away with the belt, but it didn’t take long before fans accused him of ducking. Two weeks later, he claimed he had re-entered the drug-testing pool, a necessary step for a UFC return. Then came the headline-grabbing idea of fighting at the White House proposed by Donald Trump.
The parallels with McGregor are hard to ignore. Conor hasn’t fought since breaking his leg in a 2021 loss to Dustin Poirier. He never officially retired but has remained a fixture in the headlines, constantly teasing returns that never happen.
Daniel Cormier has had enough of that routine. He sees the signs in Jones and doesn’t want to see another former champion turn into a media circus.
“Please don’t become what Conor has become in the media,” Cormier said again. “Don’t try to make it about you when you’re the one who walked away.”
Cormier’s rivalry with Jones was one of the most personal and explosive in MMA. But even now, long after the dust settled, Daniel Cormier can’t ignore the moves his old foe keeps making and he’s using his platform to call them out.
